Bloodline
by Mon-Kishu
Summary: EDITED, sequel included and in progress. The Winter Soldier is ordered to give Natasha a serum and also to bed her as often as he is able to. Hydra wants results. But while Bucky fulfills his duty he didn't realize that his mission will lead him much further... When Natasha finds out she's pregnant, Hydra captures her, because they want what her body is now able to give.
1. Encounter

**Bloodline**

**Chapter 1: Encounter**

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_Please read: This fanfic has been EDITED (23rd of Jan 2016) since I posted the epilogue a week ago. There will be more coming, but first it needed some corrections._

_Autumn_Froste did the beta-reading and helped me with suggestions. Thank you so much for that. Have fun with the corrected version. If you still find mistakes, please tell me so ^^_

_Mon-Kishu._

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Cold and bright. That's how it felt, this time, every time… Confusion. His mind was blank.

"We have a new mission for you." A voice said next to him while his eyes tried to adapt.

"Details?" Monotone, soldier.

"You will inject this serum into the target without her realizing it. Then you will visit her again. In private. Your body is fully functional. Seduce her, bed her as often as possible. Repeat this until you get further instructions."

"Who is the target?"

"Natasha Romanoff, also known as the Black Widow."

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The first part of his mission had been easy. Even sneaking into S.H.I.E.L.D. had been a breeze. The target, just back from an assignment, bruised and exhausted, had reported dutifully before she let the doctors patch her up again. A perfect chance.

Now he followed her through the night. She walked aimlessly, or so it would seem to most people. Passersby and cars decreasing in number until finally she stopped in a dark alley, sighing. "You trailed me since headquarters. What do you want? I am not in the mood for a fight, but I will gladly show you your place, if that is what you wish for."

He remained silent, coming up with a plan that would work on her.

Another sigh, then she turned around, and froze." You...?" It was merely a second of confusion until her calm mask had settled upon her face again, eyes analyzing him quickly and thorough. "Usually it's me who tries to seek you out. Have we changed the roles in our game of cat-and-mouse?" His silence bothered her more than it should have.

The spider was good, he gave her that. Remembering some of their encounters, the soldier felt a raw need pulsing in his veins, images of her using the variety of her skill-set flashing through his mind. It was crucial for his mission to feel aroused. He swallowed and took off his mask slowly, his eyes fixed on hers.

"James?" Natasha knew he still had to be in there somewhere. He was the one who rescued Steve from drowning and she certainly didn't want an argument with Rogers about hope if she didn't use this chance now.

His breathing quickened as he stalked toward her, all the predator she knew he was. "Natasha…," he moaned as he came closer.

What did he come for? If he wanted to murder her, he would have already done it. So… Of course, she realized, he felt lost, betrayed and there were more than one reasons to save him. "Come here," she said carefully.

Yes. She took the bait. His hands grabbed her shoulders, pushing her against the wall, while his lips started to devour her...

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_As you know from my stuff, maybe, my chaps are getting longer every time. A prologue is always difficult for me._

_And whoever is able to tell me about the 'advice' I gave from the fanfic's title, gets some previews ^^_


	2. Dancing in the dark

**Bloodline**

**Chapter 2: Dancing in the dark**

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_AN:_

_This is not the totally adult version. You can find it in my archive of our own account. Check my profile __description_ _for the link. Or try this (if ffnet __lets __me) archiveofourown{dot}org{slash}users{slash}Aerith_Mon_Kishu{slash}works_

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Natasha froze in shock as his lips touched hers. She had not expected him to… But why? At least it seemed that his order had not been to kill. Or had he somehow broken free? If there was any chance, she should use it, for James and Steve's sake. Her lips slowly responded as she opened for him, a soft moan escaping her mouth.

The soldier stopped and drew away a couple of inches, his eyes piercing hers, while his rapid breathing ghosted over her cheeks.

He looked like a predator, primal instincts taking over and drowning him in need. Natasha calculated her options. Something was definitely wrong here. Yet, if there was a slight chance of saving this lost man, she would risk it. Her features changed into the expression of a lost, young girl, curious and trusting, while Natasha licked lips, savoring the taste of him. He had to be handled with care, knowing that he had the upper hand, while she still maintained the image of an assassin, dark and desirable - and dangerous. This would work on him.

"More," he growled, before his hands captured hers, pinning her against the wall. He pressed his body against hers, kissing her again with a ferocity fueled by insanity. It would be a lie to say that this man didn't feel good. It was unholy and brutal, the way he devoured her. She noticed him pressing against her through his trousers and raised one leg to capture him.

Barnes grinned into the kiss as one hand wandered down her side to take hold of her hips, lifting her up with his metal arm easily and moaning as she rubbed against him. "I want you," her panted. "I need… more…"

She was able to get him. She had to. Natasha quickly opened her jeans with her free hand, only to feel his natural arm pushing beneath her underwear a second later. His fingers were skilled, surely something he had not forgotten over these long years, something that even Hydra could not make him forget. Only a minute later she had thrown her arms around his shoulders, pushing him as close as possible.

"It's still not enough," he growled as he sat her down.

The next thing she heard was clothes ripping apart as he tore her jeans and her underwear in pieces to allow access to the place he desired. Natasha only hesitated for a second. There was no reason to be worried. However strong he and his desire would be, she could stand it, and there would be no consequences.

She was responding. Good. His hands quickly opened his trousers to finally free his arousal. He wanted to get over with this fast. There was enough time for finesse when he had his first couple of rounds with her, to keep her hunger growing.

Natasha looked down between the two of them, grinning as she saw him well equipped and ready for her. When he had his body's salvation, she might be able to achieve true salvation with him. She needed him to trust her, so she grabbed him, stroking him hard with a mischievous grin on her face. "Is this enough?" she asked innocently.

"No." The Winter Soldier hoisted her up once more before entering her moist center with one forceful thrust.

Both of them moaned loudly at the feeling of being united, throwing back their heads as they enjoyed the moment. He filled her perfectly, stretching her. They remained like this for a few seconds, trying to adjust.

Then he started shoving her against the wall, driving deep into her core, leaving them groaning. His pace was slow, but forceful, which left her clinging to him, scratching his shoulders until she drew blood. And from his groans Natasha knew that this was something he was more than fond of.

His hands grabbed her more forcefully, bruising the exposed skin of her thighs. She was, after all, a strong and ruthless woman he should keep locked up.

Natasha had started digging her hands into his soft locks, pulling, and waiting for a response.

The man grinned, it was such fun reducing a woman to her inner animal as he continued his pace but not until he challenged her strength, tugging on his own hair to reach her face. Lowering in, his neck pulsing faster with every breathe of ecstasy he took, he softly touched her lips with his own, "Tell me what you want. Let me hear it."

"I want…" Her voice was cut off by a brutal thrust that left her whining. She tried to cling onto something while the pleasure washed over her. Damn, she did not expect it to be this… She groaned as he grabbed her breast, torturing her with his skilled fingers.

"Ah...I haven't had this since the war... haha…," He grabbed her jaw to force her to stare at him. "How does it feel... to fuck a fossil?" Eyes narrowed as his will did not stop at the mission laid before him. This was what he lived for, this was his mission. This woman would be his.

Natasha grinned at the remark. "Well, then we are two of one kind, aren't we? Two elders just having fun..." But she would show him that she was far from old. If only her position gave her more opportunities, but she wouldn't be the Black Widow, if she did find a way.

"I must admit...nngh," he moaned, "you are quite the woman to take me so easily," he thrust harder hitting for what seemed to be her sweet spot. "An average one would have just pleaded by now...," his sneer was stuck to his face, seeing his partner reach her limit.

"Too easy…" his mind twisted in thought.

The Black Widow was not about to give now. It was amazing, to have this brutal, primal sex in a dark alley. Just the way she liked it. Yet damn, for a mindless soldier we was much more passionate than she would have thought. But Natasha was enjoying it nonetheless. If only her mind would lead her to say the words she needed to express to turn him away from Hydra. Right now, the only thing she could think about was the feeling of him inside of her.

"Oh, just shut up and fuck me."

He flipped his hair back swiftly and picked up her body with ease, slamming her against the wall. "Fine. I''m gonna nail you so hard, you won't be able to walk for a week." James licked his way up her throat. "And then I'll fill you up until my cum is dripping out of you." He rapidly thrust within her. Sweat. Heat. Passion. All mixed in with each other's dire needs with no hint of regret.

The Winter Soldier arched back and held her thighs tightly to his hips as he seeped into her.

He opened his eyes slowly looking to the sky, he let out a whisper, "Hail...Hydra..."

The Black Widow shivered at his words while her orgasm took over. No, he was far from saved... but at least… Her vision went blank as she cried out his real name, the ecstasy so great her body went limb in his arms. The last thing she felt was him filling her up with his hot seed. The pulsing of him as he did so took her breath as it extended her own release, until she only saw black.

Natasha awoke in her bedroom. Her thighs burning of what happened to her. She knew it all too well. And the Black Widow was also sure that he would visit her again. In the end, she did not get here by her own feet.

He knew where she resided, and did not kill her yet. Maybe, if she was carefully playing his game, he would trust her enough…


	3. Used

**Bloodline**

**Chapter 3: Used**

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"Are you even listening to me, Nat," A voice next to her wanted to know.

"Sorry, what?" She had been feeling tired all morning, her thoughts drifting off the short, and hot encounter with the Winter Soldier.

"Had a good night," Barton asked again, his smile wide, "you only look so sated when you had a good fuck. Unfortunately it seems like I wasn't invited, hmm?"

Natasha sighed. She knew there was no denying it, not from him. "Clint, we decided to stop that since Fury is not very fond of our partnership going beyond business."

"Maybe I should resign," he replied with a cocky grin.

Natasha groaned in annoyance. "Barton, please. We have to concentrate on this mission." Checking that her weapons were safely hidden underneath her evening gown, she said on the comm, "We're ready, going to enter the event now."

"Target's in the VIP section. "You have to make your way into it," Maria Hill's voice ordered via their earpieces.

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Easy, just as always. Enchanting the target with her body and some sweet words, luring him to a place he cannot rely on his muscle men's help and snatch what she needed before anyone knew she was even there. But this time she knew something was wrong when she entered the private rooms.

"You again?" The Black Widow froze in place as she spotted him in the darkness of the corner.

"You don't have to bother about your target anymore. I already got the answers for you." He took out a disc from his pocket. "But if you want the intel, you got to work for it," his Brooklyn accent slipping out in between the words.

The Black Widow just stared at him for a moment, trying to read him, but it was difficult with the fire still burning between her thighs. Usually she wasn't this unprofessional. She would have knocked him out and collected what she needed, yet there still had to be a way to turn him away from Hydra, to talk him out of it. "Why?"

"What the hell do you mean, why?" The dark figure moved in on her closer, waiting to see her next move, while his right hand hovered over the loaded pistol on his hip.

"Why are you playing this game with me? You are tracking me and now sabotaged a mission. What is it that you want from me?" She flexed her fingers, ready to pull her weapon as well, but only if she had to.

"I want you, that's all. Not even your personality, I couldn't give two shits about that, you know what this agreement between us is. I want your body, and no one will take that away from me...," dashing towards her swiftly, he broke the earpiece in her grasp. "No one...," he pinned her against the wall with his titanium arm, the other took off his mask to reveal a sinister grin.

"Who the fuck do you even think you are?!" she shouted at him angrily, while she was pressed between the hard surface and him. "I belong to no one." Natasha said with gritted teeth as she stared at his grin that held what her body ached for.

"I think...by the end of tonight...," his mouth hovering over her lips softly. "You will submit to everything I give to you without hesitation." Grasping her left thigh, he hooked it above his waist in dominance.

Her breath was hot on his cheeks as she whispered, "Sorry, but I have other plans. No time to play." She could feel him pulsing at her core. There was no denying in what it did to her, but she suppressed the keening moan that worked its way up her throat.

"We have enough time. That idiot gave the order to let no one in here, until he comes out himself. Looks like you have made quite an impression on him. Answer me this: how far would you have gone with him," he whispered sinisterly.

"Why do you ask? You know my methods very well. I can make men talk by snapping my fingers." She held her head high as she looked at him.

"Except for me, right," his steel hand locked on her wrists and he grabbed her by the ass, lifting her up above his hips and kissed her hard, forcing himself upon her. Nat's eyes widened then slightly closed yet the Winter Soldier's eyes remained determined to keep her in that position until he was satisfied she would not resist.

The Black Widow cursed her body for responding in such a way. She had to win the upper hand again. Yet maybe playing along would do the trick, but her pride forbid this. "Oh, now you are on thin ice, sweetheart. Don't be so smug about that one time, honey. I was just in the mood for a little fun." She wished for her hands being free so she could bury them in his hair. Natasha mentally shook her head and tried to rearrange her thoughts again. "Now it's my time for a question: How did you know I would be here tonight?"

"Natasha, you aren't difficult to figure out, we are close to the same age, you and I. How else would you have lived this long to see such history play through, that's what we have in common that you don't share with the others, they are just mere mortals with no sense of life value, except for us. The two of us understand each other, it is only natural for us to crave one another's lust, don't you agree," the man who was clad in black loosed his grasp on her slowly.

"It's not nice to remind me of my age," she purred against his ear. "And that still doesn't answer my question." When she felt his grip tightening again, she knew he wouldn't give her this information. "So you are here on your own accord, just because you aren't interested in the young, sweet girls anymore? Craving someone with experience?" Yes, they were alike, so alike. But he was still fighting for the wrong side. She had to lure him in even more, make him trust her.

"I am a lost cause Natasha, you are better off with Steve. So stop trying to get me to fall for your tricks cause it's not going to happen," he let go of her wrists only to rip off her jacket, sleeves only remaining. "Too bad we can never find a proper place to do this, but what does it matter? We both know what is going to happen next in this scenario."

Natasha groaned in annoyance. "I liked that jacket, asshole." Using all her force and her freed hands she took hold of his shoulders and turned their positions, pushing him against the wall before she grabbed hold of his belt buckle. "You can't know everything. This time I will be leading this."

"Don't be too rough now, I'm fragile," he smirked. Eager to experience this, the soldier unclasped his jacket, letting Nat have easier access to his chest as well. His arm moved up her spine, it was cold but also had a sense of ecstasy as it hit her body, something he couldn't experience due to not having any feeling in that destructive arm.

Natasha shivered under his touch, closing her eyes for just a second, a moan escaping her lips. Her hands opened his trousers roughly, freeing his erection. With a smile on her lips and put her hands on his chest, feeling his heart beating, before she used her hands to claw down his upper body, leaving bloody streaks all over him, before he used her fingers in a much more gently way to take hold of him, pumping a few times, before she searched his eyes again. "Oh, I think you'll be able to stand it. Just tell me when I'm too rough."

Not wanting to show his lust toward her, his need for her heat, the soldier picked her head up and deeply kissed her, pulling her hips forward as to glide slowly over his hips. Sucking down hard on her neck to increase the sense of desired passion within their bodies. "I will not only mark you from the inside but for full view of others." The bruising was fast, the marks were clean, and the deed was soon done.

Natasha groaned in pleasure as he brutally kissed her neck. One hand worked its way up again to grab his hair while the other continued to pleasure him. "You call this marking?" She grinned sinisterly before going down on her knees.

Eagerly he awaited her next move, caught in her eyes framed by fiery red looks and underlined by her soft, plump lips that were now… He groaned as her mouth surrounded his shaft while her fingers gingerly cupped his balls.

Natasha kept her eyes fixed on his, trying to read him, to break through to him while she started sucking, her lips making wet and naughty noises before she used her tongue to encircle the head, tasting salty precum. She would now mark him in her own way, her teeth only slightly brushing along the sensitive skin, making him cry out from time to time.

"You're good at this, I'll admit, Romanoff," he smirked as his mechanical hand buried itself into her red locks, pushing her head further along his shaft, enjoying the wet heat she spread around him.

Natasha tried not to gag as he slid into her throat, but the training kept her breathing calm as she worked harder on him, sucking greedily. His tight grip softened after she had found a rhythm he liked. Feeling his balls she knew he was close to his release and when he pulled her head away she could imagine what his next step would be, so she walked towards the desk, leaning over it and exposing her bare center which had been hidden beneath the short skirt.

Barnes felt his carnal needs taking over as he saw her wet and ready for him. Grabbing her hips forcefully he aligned himself with her and entered her in one delicious, quick thrust which left them both groaning and longing for more. His movements were sharp, effective and he knew he was hitting the end of her, as she moaned half in pleasure half in pain.

The Black Widow clawed at the desk to keep herself steady as his body worked its magic, making her cry out in Russian curses. She knew that there would be bruises all along her hips and thighs tomorrow, but it was worth it. She matched his thrusts every time, but then he suddenly picked up an even faster pace, pounding into her like there was no tomorrow. His voice rose as he groaned, ready to spill himself and she would walk along with him.

His mechanical arm grabbed her hair once again, tearing her upwards until she was flush against his torso. His hands lifted up one thigh, as he thrust upwards, controlling everything she experienced. His second hand wandered down her body until it rested on her belly, his fingers only slightly touching her tingling secret. "Come for me," his timbre was dark, darker than it should be.

This was the moment she knew she had lost control as her body obeyed him, ripping him into the abyss with her. A keening moan escaped her lips as her body convulsed around him, milking him to the last drop.

The Winter Soldier let himself fall into pure bliss while his mind stayed focused on the task at hand. This was the second time he had fulfilled Hydra's wish and he wanted to make sure he did that more often. This woman was like a drug and making his mission so much easier when she responded like that. Deep in his mind, he knew what the product of his quest would be. His hand caressed her stomach carefully for her not to notice, although he was sure her mind was far away from here. He wondered how long it would take and what Hydra wanted from this child. But it was his mission to have her at any possibility, and dear lord, it would be… a pleasure.

Natasha tried to keep her eyes opened, but when she felt him putting her down on the desk, she knew her limbs wouldn't even hold her if she tried to stand up. A sick feeling overcame her when she saw his eyes lingering on the place between her thighs, now drenched in his cum. The dark gleam made her shudder as she realized he was the one playing her, the one in control. "Give me the intel," she demanded coolly.

The smirk on his face was telltale. "Alright." After he finished closing his belt she pulled a disc from his pocket and threw it onto her exposed body. "Till the next time, Tasha."

The Black Widow stayed behind for a few minutes, trying to regain her breath, while the tears flowed freely. She had hoped that saving him would be an option, earning his trust to keep him loyal. But there was so much more… Yet she knew, that when he came to her the next time, it would be this all over again…


	4. Stamina

**Bloodline**

**Chapter 4: Stamina**

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"Once?" The director asked him, his voice dripping with mock. "The Winter Soldier only able to satisfy his needs once? I thought there was more in your icicle than that." He laughed.

"The team would have noticed if I kept her in my possession longer and I remember your orders were to -"

"We ordered you to fuck her at any possibility." The man snarled. "You will be given something to ensure more… virility."

"I think I am very well able to -"

"Silence. You are not here to think." _Only to fight and fuck,_ the director added. "Report to the medical center. They will aid you in this… matter."

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His body was burning hot, his loins hurt with need, as he watched the Black Widow snapping the neck of one of her enemies. His pants were getting tighter at every move of hers, so he decided to quickly finish the unwanted people off with his gun.

The Black Widow froze when she heard the shots before her enemies fell to the floor around her. Quickly she spotted him, as he jumped off the wall and practically attacked her with his body, pushing her flush against him so he could rub his erection against her belly. "I need you, now."

"It's really not the time to -" She was silenced with a brutal kiss before she heard her jumpsuit being torn to pieces. This was different from the first times. He seemed… desperate. A thought appeared in her mind, maybe she actually had caught him in her web. So she played along, fighting half-heartedly to turn him on even more. Natasha caught a glimpse of his needy eyes before he buried his face in her neck, deeply breathing in her scent.

"I need to be inside you," he rasped before opening his pants with shaking hands, barely able to hold on to his control.

"Then take me," she whispered against his ear. Natasha hooked one leg around his waist, giving him the access he wanted. He grabbed her hips and lifted her up, only to plunge into her with one quick thrust. Both of them groaned loudly at the feeling.

His moves were quick and effective and he took her there right on the spot. Lifting her up with his metal arm, before letting her fall back onto his hips, driving into her as deeply as he could, while his second hand started to caress her clit, rubbing her slowly and with pressure first and then changing to frantically movements to which she responded by moaning his name out loud.

The Black Widow gave him what he wanted, clawing into his shoulders while she tried to keep herself steady at his quick pace. It took them mere minutes to reach their pinnacle, both of them shouting the other's name while he emptied himself inside of for almost as long as she climaxed herself. The feeling of him twitching inside of her heightened of own pleasure until she sank against him, entirely spent.

"You think I am done with you?" Barnes asked her before lifting her up once more and thrusting inside of her to show that he was far from done, his member still hard.

Natasha blinked once, twice, before her mind started working again. How could he still not be sated? She didn't even have the chance to stop her downward fall as he dropped her to the floor, pushing her legs apart with his knees before he impaled her with his cock once more.

It did not matter to him if she would find pleasure in this again as long as he got what he needed. So he grabbed her wrists as she tried to push him off and held them above her hand as he fucked her hard, gaining hoarse cries from her.

What the hell was wrong with him? She tried to lift her knees to push him away, but his thrust were strong enough to almost crack her pelvic bone while he took what he needed.

"Stop fighting, or this will get worse," he grimly told her before burying his face in the valley between her breasts, licking every part of her skin, taking the tips between his teeth and bruising her nipples.

Natasha didn't know why, but his assault turned her on. She had always been one for the bad guys boys, but this was truly an embodiment of her darkest desires. Vanilla sex was something for Steve, or even Clint, but this… was pure passion in its basest form.

The Winter Soldier could not hold himself back anymore as she started to tighten around him to get more friction. Oh, she was so perfect, so responsive. Before he even knew it, his body spasmed again, filling her up as much as he could.

Natasha was almost a little annoyed by him finishing off before her, yet she let it happen and waited for him to stop his attack, but his hips continued to thrust into her, giving her what she wanted in contrary to what a normal human would be able to do. Even if he held himself back the first time to still be hard enough for another round, this was an inhuman endurance. Something was wrong, oh so wrong while it felt so terribly good.

The Winter Soldier had expected his need to decrease with every time he spent himself, yet quite the opposite happened. An angry groan escaped his throat before he grabbed one of her legs, pressing it against her torso to dive deeper into her. He lost all finesse as he fulfilled his carnal need to have her again and again. "Why are you doing this to me?" He asked, and even for his foggy mind this sounded weird. "Why can't I just…" He couldn't even finish as he felt her tightening around him again. He hadn't even noticed her impending peak. An angry cry was heard from him as he came inside of her once more, breathing heavily as he collapsed on top of her.

Natasha already knew she would be sore tomorrow and have bruises all over her hips and cleavage. Her breathing was just as fast as his as she tried to speak. "James, please, give me a break." She laughed at her own words before she knew something was odd. He was still…

"More," James growled before he grabbed her and set her on her hands and knees, entering her from behind while his metal fingers searched for her clit. Maybe he could turn her on once again. It felt so good when she came around him that he couldn't get enough of it. But her body shied away from him which made him even angrier. "More!" He demanded before slapping her ass as hard as he could. The sound vibrating through his body.

Natasha tried to merely stand her ground as he had her again, her eyes filled with tears while she tried to make her body respond. The serum gave her endurance in every aspect but this was impossible. She cried as he climaxed once more, thrusting into her once, twice, before he held himself there, shivering. His cum was already dripping from her body and onto the floor, while his member was still hard and thick.

"I'm sorry," he said as his mind kicked back in. He looked at his work in disbelieve before pulling out. Finally the edge of his need had worn off, but at a price. She was bruised everywhere and her womanhood was reddened and even injured, some drops of bloods mingling with the seed that was dripping out of her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Natasha asked angrily as her breathing had normalized. She lifted herself up to slap him but stopped in her tracks when she saw his expression. There was clarity in it, and grief. But it was gone so quickly she thought she had imagined it. Back was the need but he tried to swallow it down to think clearly but his mind was already slipping again. "Oh no. Wait, James, please."

He blinked and then focused on her before releasing a shallow breath. "Natalia?" He sounded so innocent. Then the Winter Soldier grimaced as if his head was hurting, falling backwards. Before his inner eye pictures flashed of Natasha on the sheets with a content smile while she pulled him down upon her. Memories that were not from recent encounters. What was this? "You shouldn't be here. They'll kill you if they find out." - "I don't care."

"James, are you okay?" she questioned and carefully touched his face.

His eyes shot back to hers and the coldness returned. "I don't want to see you hurt," he said through gritted teeth. "I don't want to be the one hurting you." His shaking hands stroked over the bruises along her cleavage.

"It's not so bad," she whispered gently and leaned in closer to him.

He could smell her now, everything she could give him. It made him burn with need again. "NO!" he screamed out loud, as if in pain. His hands wandered down to his manhood, closing around the base, trying to give him enough friction to extinguish this desire.

She looked at him in shock. Something was very wrong here and she needed to find a way to help him. Was this Hydra's doing? But why? This sounded like a too twisted way to submit an enemy agent. Whatever it was, she knew there weren't many options to help him. "Stay calm, James. I'm gonna help you."

He looked at her, his whole body shivering now. "How?"

She merely smiled as she pushed him down until he lay on his back, completely vulnerable, for her. "I'll think of something." Natasha said before taking a firm hold of him and lowering her head.

"Na-ah-talia." He moaned, writhing beneath her as he closed his eyes, trying to hold onto sanity. His hips bucked into her as she worked her greatest magic. He felt himself getting closer and closer to his release and remembered his orders. "Please, let me…" He tried to get a hold of her shoulder.

Her smile was kind and lustful as she laid back, exposing herself for him, her legs opened wide. "I'll be there for you." Even if it was in a twisted way like this. The Black Widow knew she was getting to him, helping him regaining some past memories and, hopefully, turned him away from Hydra. If this was their plan, to turn _her_ around with seduction, she would use this plan against them, winning _him_ back.

She didn't remember how often they came apart, but in the end his lust was satisfied as he collapsed beside her. He had been much gentler these times and she enjoyed holding him in her arms now. It felt so right, so… The thought hit her hard. She was compromised.

Barnes sighed and lifted himself up. "Do you need any help with your mission?" He smiled at her, it was sincere, and it almost broke her heart. "I think I was stalling you long enough."

It felt cold without him next to her. "No," she managed to say, "I'm fine." Her body was aching in all the good and bad ways. Before she was able to collect herself, she felt his hands cupping her face gently and kissing her so softly, she might have passed out.

"'Till the next time, Natalia."

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"Answer truthfully," he demanded.

"I took her four times before I finally had the mind to even think about her needs. And several times after that I still couldn't get him into my pants." He admitted, almost ashamed.

"Then it has worked perfectly. Don't worry. The next days it wears off a little and you might need longer but the quantity should stabilize at that point."

The Winter Soldier tried not to look shocked as he heard these words.


	5. Metal

**Bloodline**

**Chapter 5: Metal**

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The Winter Soldier sighed as he woke up. Every bone in his body ached but at least the aphrodisiac the doctors had given him was finally wearing off. He couldn't even remember how often he had bedded the Black Widow during their last encounter. And he was sure that her teammates would soon notice that something was wrong with her. The bite marks healed within less than an hour but she had to be physically exhausted, even with the serum coursing through her veins. He too was entirely spent yet the need remained, so he pushed himself up from the bed to get intel about her next mission.

"Ah, good morning, playboy." The director greeting him mockingly. "You're not going to want to sit down, you need to leave quickly. The Black Widow is currently on her way to Washington in a more diplomatic mission. You'll get more details on the jet."

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Natasha had waited for him the whole time, checked every dark corner and possible hiding place twice,

before she realized she was getting paranoid, or maybe not... A dark chuckle sounded from behind her.

"I see you have been waiting for me. Clever girl." His arms sneaked around her shoulders as he leaned against her back, breathing in her scent and sighing. "I think this time we ought to take it more slowly, gently even." His voice was full of mock, while his metal arm glided down her torso to find the place between her legs. She tried to avoid his touch which made him smile. "Sore?"

"No thanks to you," Natasha answered before turning around to face him. She searched his eyes for the same desperate, almost insane need of yesterday, but found only glowing desire. Good, at least he was normal again, since she was sure another round like that would have shattered her pelvic bone.

"Where?" He asked while his fingers toyed with one of her locks, the move so simple and yet saying so much about him.

The Black Widow was able to read his every movement with precision, and soon she would have wrapped him around her finger. "I saw a nice bed in another room. Maybe for once we should use the furniture at hand."

His grin was smug as he watched her, reading her as well. She had already fallen for him. But that didn't mean this would stop him from conquer her. His metal hand buried itself into her hair before he pulled at it roughly, exposing her throat to his lips and teeth. "Show me."

At least this time he left her clothes intact, even enjoyed sliding down her underwear and leaving the short skirt on for now. He unbuttoned her blouse with quick movements before burying his face between her breasts. The Winter Soldier slowly pushed her towards the bed and laid her down gently, never stopping kissing her. With a smile he straightened himself and looked down at her, lifting his hands in question.

She understood quickly and nodded towards his metal fingers, her mind already foggy with need and the imagination he would surely live up to.

He smirked and laid down next to her his hips rubbing against her thighs, showing her his need, before his hand wandered over her breasts, diving into her lacy bra and gently cupping one peak while his lips found her neck, nuzzling her. "You will regret this choice." He chuckled as he used more force to pinch her nipple, making her shout his name in lust and pain.

When her soft moans grew louder he knew she was ready for more and wandered lower, laying his cold hand onto her stomach, caressing the skin before he lifted her skirt to put his fingers onto her tingling secret. He could only guess how wet she was since he had no feeling in this arm, but the slick noises were telltale as he worked one finger into her.

Natasha shivered as she felt the cold metal invading her, but at the same time it turned her on like hell. He was so gentle with a weapon that could tear muscles and break bones. She imagined how it would feel if he used his bionic powers to thrust into her. The mere thought made her moan and writhe beneath him.

"So responsive...," The Winter Soldier complimented and lifted his head to gaze into her eyes. He quickly decided to add another finger as he saw her ready, and biting her lips to stifle another moan. He watched her closely as his fingers explored her folds, trying to find the places where she needed him most.

"More," she demanded with a loud moan as she felt him stretching her. Her legs spread even wider, allowing him to enter her further. Her hips started to thrust against his skilled fingers while he played her like an instrument, with gentle precision, coaxing the most delicious sounds from her lips.

He slowly increased the speed of his ministrations, yet still so far away from the vigor she wanted him to exert. The Winter Soldier loved toying with her, she was exquisite, her body reacting in ways that made his loins pulse with pleasure. But he took his time. Now that he had the serum Hydra gave him under control. Even using it to increase his need, while Barnes himself became the epitome of concentration, analyzing every delightful shiver, ever sweet sound she made, only to master his technique. "Tell me what you want me to do," he whispered hoarsely as he started kissing her neck again, sucking greedily. "Tell me, Natalia."

His demand coaxed another moan from her lips as her entrance tightened around his fingers. "I…" She panted for breath as he hit her sweet spot once more. "I want you to thrust your fingers into me so… ah… hard that I feel nothing but you."

Barnes stopped for a moment, looking at her with a smile. "You are not explicit enough, my dear." He made a half circle inside of her with enough pressure to make her shudder.

Her groan was almost a cry as she shut her eyes tightly. "Oh, come on, just fuck me," she demanded in annoyance. Why did he play her like this when other things were more important? Her mind was foggy with need as she squirmed under him.

"Wrong answer." His voice became darker, almost angry. "I want you to tell me exactly what you it is that you need."

There were tears in her eyes as she whispered in defeat. "I want you to use your arm the way it was built to be, as a weapon - to hurt."

He chuckled darkly. "As you wish…" He bit into her shoulder before pulling out his fingers almost all the way, only to thrust them inside of her with a brutality that nearly tore her skin.

Natasha couldn't stop herself from groaning in pain and pleasure. "Yes!" She exclaimed, her voice hoarse and needy. Her entrance tightened around him to get more friction as he withdrew his fingers again and pushing back inside of her as hard as he could without using his bionic powers, saving them for later if she proved herself worthy of it.

"Such a good girl…" The Winter Soldier encouraged Natasha, working on her with so much force he almost drove her to the upper part of the bed if she didn't hold the sheets as tightly as possible. His gaze wandered lower to her abdomen. He smirked as his eyes saw how the skin of her belly lifted each time he entered her. His thumb that had only brushed against her clit until now found its own rhythm, rubbing the tiny bundle of nerves vigorously.

Her first orgasm took her by surprise as her whole body arched towards his hand. Natasha moaned his name out loud while he continued to thrust into her, determined to keep her lust growing further instead of giving her a break. She welcomed his eagerness, her body now used to his stamina, enjoying it entirely. Her fingers buried themselves into his hair, pulling his head towards her to give him a passionate kiss, biting into his lips just enough to draw a little blood. His low growl encouraged her to demand more, her second hand joining his between her legs. "Take me now," her voice was hoarse and pleading. "I want to feel you."

The Winter Soldier lifted himself onto one elbow and looked down at her curiously and with a boyish smile. "Are you already so desperate?"

Her sly grin was inviting enough but when her fingers closed around his wrist and pulled his hand towards her face only to kiss his metal finger tips that glistened with her release, he couldn't stop himself from groaning. Her eyes sparkled with desire as she licked his fingers clean, sucking at them eagerly, to make him wish he could have any feeling in his metal arm.

As the desire became unbearable the Winter Soldier grabbed her wrists and held them tightly above her head while his hips settled between her spread legs. His teeth bit into her neck as he plunged into her as deep as his could.

Barnes surprised her with new and very inventive ideas of positions that made her ache for more no matter how often he made her come around his maleness, fingers or tongue.

"I think you have now proven worthy," he told her casually as if all this had just been foreplay.

"Of what?" Natasha panted, her eyes searching his.

The Winter Soldier chuckled darkly while he lifted his arm and clenched his fist, the metal groaning angrily. "I won't hold back anymore."

Her heart skipped as beat as her eyes widened in anticipation and fear.

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Her legs barely supported her as Natasha entered her flat. Even in her wildest dreams she would have never imagined him to be this _good_. And yet again she was no step closer to turning him away from Hydra. It was frustrating and the Black Widow felt more like using the situation for her own pleasure and not to help him.

She dragged her feet into the bathroom and started filling the tub while undressing. Natasha could smell him all over her, dark and musky and that hint of metal. She had lost herself in him entirely again...

The spy never found the right words while he toyed with her body so easily. An annoyed growl left her lips as she lowered herself into the bathtub. Maybe she should tell Steve about what had happened during the last several weeks, but what was there to say? 'Hey, I'm fucking your former buddy and it's fun.' A sudden nausea took hold of her but she fought it off. Tomorrow, yes tomorrow she would think of something. The Black Widow was so exhausted that she didn't even remember getting up at night several times to vomit in the bathroom.


	6. Abduction

**Bloodline**

**Chapter 6: Abduction**

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"Tasha, I really think you should talk to me." Clint blocked her way as she wanted to leave the conference room. "I know you, and I also know that something isn't right."

Natasha took a deep breath, preparing to lie to him, but it turned out to be difficult to keep a blank face. She had been feeling dizzy all morning, the pictures of a gruesome murder they had just looked at only worsened her condition. "I just worked too much. I could use some days off, that's all." She resisted the urge to lean against a furniture as the world began spinning.

"You look paler every day. If I didn't know about your super-human abilities, I would say something is draining you, like sucking the life out of you."

Natasha knew he was serious, but his choice of words made her grin. 'More like I am sucking the life out of someone else...' She banished the thought and slipped back into the façade of Black Widow. "Are you questioning my ability to get a job done?"

Clint shook his head, realizing he was wounding her pride and that was definitely the wrong way to go. "I just ask you to do a quick check-up, maybe they find something."

"I don't want anyone to know, to even question me about… 'being weak.'"

The archer quickly thought about the options, "Then go to Banner. You know you can trust his discretion."

She sighed and agreed, only because she knew he wouldn't find anything. "Alright, if you stop nagging. But I first need to go through a training session with the newbies."

Clint heaved a sigh of relief and nodded. "Thanks, Tasha. I'll tell Banner to prepare."

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They were such a disappointment… And after she explained the same hand-to-hand combat move for the third time, Natasha was starting to lose her temper, sending one of the trainees down the mat hard enough to break his wrist. When the rest of them looked at her in pure fear for their life, she entirely lost it. "In a true fight your opponent will do more than only break a bones, they'll kill you. So concentrate!" She saw them shying away and groaned in annoyance. This was usually not her way of dealing with such problems but her emotions seemed uncontrollable today and the nausea didn't loosen its grip on her. She needed a stress relief, a proper one, not just beating those idiots to a bloody mess. She pushed a button on her com. "Hey, Cap, you have some time? I need you in the gym." Luckily he had some moments to spare and arrived five minutes later.

"What's up?" Steve asked, his voice light with that damn naive friendliness when he meet untrained 'soldiers' on their way up. He put down his bag with the intel he wanted to show Natasha after this… whatever she had planned. Fury had given him some files about the attack on another Hydra facility yesterday, and what he had seen at first glance made him shudder. Maybe Natasha could make more sense out of this.

"I need a partner to show them some moves. You're ready?" She didn't want to waste any time while the young ones seemed to almost hype their idol. Annoying, no, downright disgusting…

Cap smiled at the trainees and nodded, moving into a fighting stance. "Yes." He could barely see it coming when Natasha attacked him, the first few kicks and punches so quick he couldn't even dodge them.

Oh yes, this was much better. With him she didn't need to hold back. Just like with James… No, she wouldn't think about him right now, not when she was willingly hurting his friend, the one who wanted to save him. Thoughts were spinning in her head, anger, rage, helplessness and lust. Steve still had no idea that she was sleeping with his former comrade and that she hadn't even come one step closer to turning him over. The movements were so fast now that they blurred in front of her eyes, everything else faded, only the brutal act remained, that reminded her of how she and the Winter Soldier had fought for control, and what followed then…

A very hard kick sent Steve to the ground from which he quickly recovered. But Natasha was faster, she pushed him back down, straddling his lap and holding his wrists tightly above his head before she leaned down. Her mind was already far away by now, her body reacting automatically as she felt something between her legs. When she moved her hips, she heard someone moan, but Natasha couldn't tell anymore if it was a sound of surprise or lust, so she leaned closer to her opponent and pressed her lips onto his. In between the passionate kisses she moaned James' name, barely understandable even for her, but it didn't matter. Suddenly something felt wrong. He wasn't kissing her back with the same vigor, in fact he was fighting against her. The heady, musky scent she knew so well now tasted strange and different.

Natasha opened her eyes in confusion and was confronted with Steve's shocked face as she realized what just happened. All options to explain this slipped from her mind as she heard one of the trainees cheer, the others falling in and making snide remarks.

"Out!" Natasha screamed at them. Range becoming the answer to this humiliation. Damn, damn, damn!

"Miss Romanoff?" The Captain carefully said, his face not only blushed but downright red.

Natasha shook her head as she got to her feet and muttered something in Russian that was obviously a curse. "Sorry, Cap… I…" Oh no, she hoped he didn't hear James's name slipping from her lips.

By now Steve was on his feet again, straightening his fighting suit and trying to avoid her eyes. "You could at least ask me out on a date first, before we start fondueing." He gave his best at being funny.

But Natasha would have none of that. "Just forget what I did. Okay? It never happened." Could it get any more absurd?

"Yeah, of course." Yet his mind did quite the opposite. He remembered the moment she had kissed him on the escalator and compared it to now. Very… different. During their escape there had been a practical reason and the kiss had felt like that with just a hint of seduction, but this right now… Steve knew that the kiss wasn't meant for him, he had heard her moan a name, but too muffled to understand. He shook the thought off and tried to concentrate on what he actually came to do.

Natasha quickly calculated her way to the bathroom as a wave of dizziness hit her. She tried not to show anything, but it was difficult while someone spoke to her. She didn't understand what he was saying until she heard the name Bucky. "What?"

Steve looked at her more closely while he repeated his words. "I have some new intel about Bucky's whereabouts. And another Hydra facility. Shield took it down yesterday, more or less. Hydra had fled shortly before we arrived and took most of the stuff there with them, but we found equipment that seems like something to repair Bucky's arm. And also some other stuff, that…" He pulled a folder from his bag and gave it to her.

At least he didn't nag her about what just occurred and didn't hear the name she had said. Natasha flipped the folder open and looked at the first pictures. What she saw made her heart stop. Memories of the Red Room flooded her inner eyes as she studied the equipment. Between the high-tech, there were also tools she remembered. The urge to throw up grew fiercer.

"The scientists are still analyzing the few liquids they had left behind, but it seems like they are trying to recreate the super-soldier serum again." He told her. "There were training rooms and holding cells. It seems like the participants aren't there willingly and also, the clothes were…" Steve didn't know how to tell her.

Natasha couldn't believe what the evidence showed all too clearly. "... women's clothes, right? They are creating Black Widows."

"So you're sure about that?" Now he had his suspicions confirmed.

"Yes… They did the same to me. It seems familiar." She pointed at some of the tools on the pictures. "But why is the Winter Soldier there?" Natasha asked him. Maybe he had some more information about him by now.

"We have no idea, maybe he is there to train or protect them, or it's simply his temporary hideout." Steve wasn't sure himself, but at least now he was one step closer to saving his friend.

'Just like he trained me...' Natasha said to herself, remembering his hard lessons. "Whatever it is, please drop me a note when you find out more, okay?" The memory she was reliving now destroyed the last bit of her control. She quickly excused herself and walked towards the bathroom, with normal strides at first, and then ran when she was of Steve's sight.

The Captain only watched her, unsure why she showed such a behaviour. Was she still embarrassed because of what just happened? He looked at the pictures again. No… Steve didn't know the details of her past, but surely these nightmares still haunted her. Now he regretted giving her a glimpse into the file.

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After she had nothing left in her stomach, Natasha was feeling a little bit better, at least as far as her nausea went. Her whole body ached now, but her mind hurt even more. All the memories of her past had come back in one big wave as she had looked at the pictures. Hydra planned something that also involved the Winter Soldier. He was more than only a trainer for them, she was sure, but that didn't explain her role in this.

Deep in thought she made her way to Bruce's private section of the lab. She had made a promise to do this and suddenly her own problems came to the fore once more.

Anxiety was usually not on Natasha's list of emotions, but she couldn't shake the feeling anymore while Banner took the blood sample. What if they actually found something that was wrong? A thought tried to work its way up to the surface of her mind, to show her the obvious, but she suppressed it, just like she did since days.

"We'll have the results tomorrow morning, or is it… urgent?" The doctor knew the Black Widow by now and she never came in between the routine check-ups.

"No, that's fine. Thank you for the help." Natasha jumped from the table and made her way out.

Before she was able to leave the building, Clint blocked her path, again. He had a smug grin on his face as he spoke. "So, you and Cap, hm?"

"What?" Oh, please, let it not be this…

"Rumours spread fast." He replied and held her back when she tried to walk past him. "Tasha, I thought we were friends. You know you can trust my secrecy." He huffed when she groaned in annoyance. "At least I don't have to wonder anymore why you look so exhausted. Capsicle's keeping you busy?"

"Oh, shut up, Clint. It's been a long day, okay?" She wanted nothing more than a relaxing bath and a few hours of sleep.

"Going home to your sweetheart?" Clint chuckled.

That was enough. She could barely stop herself from punching him as hard as she could. Natasha wanted to shout, to scream, to break bones. A sudden helplessness overwhelmed her. She was losing control over her life. Tears started to blur her vision as she pushed Clint aside and made her way out.

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Natasha couldn't avoid the thought anymore. She wasn't naive, she knew what her symptoms indicated, but it was downright impossible. The ability was taken from her so long ago. Yet she needed to be sure, to finally erase the doubts nagging her. And she didn't want to wait for Banner giving her the results. She only needed one specific value.

On her way back to the apartment she dropped by the pharmacy, avoiding to show her face to the security cameras and paying in cash, yet she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

At home she just wanted to have clarity, throwing her stuff into a corner and doing the test in the bathroom. The next minutes would be the longest in her life… She put the plastic piece onto the table and changed into something more comfortable. It couldn't be, it was absurd, it was…

Natasha checked her watch, waited until three were minutes over… She needed something to occupy herself with, but couldn't do anything else than hold the test impatiently. Her mind flooded with all the possibilities, and also the ways of how to put an end to it. 'Don't be stupid', she said to herself, 'there is nothing that needs to be…' Four minutes. She heard a noise behind her and turned around, trying to remember where she put her gun. It was difficult to concentrate. Thirty seconds left. Again a noise. Someone was in here, or was she losing her mind? Five minutes. She was about to look down at the result when she heard footsteps and a chuckle behind her. Natasha turned and stared at the Winter Soldier.

"James? Have you gone mad? What if anyone saw you?" The question was stupid, he had been to her apartment quite a few times now without anyone noticing.

He didn't answer her, just kept staring at the little plastic device in her hands. "What is that?"

"It's nothing." Natasha wanted to discard it, but she needed to risk as glimpse, needed to be sure. Looking down, the red plus sign was burning itself into her memory. Her heartbeat stopped for a brief second as the fact sank in. "Bohze moi."

"What...?" he wanted to snatch the piece of plastic from her hands, but she pulled away.

"I don't understand this. What is so special with you that I was able to...?" Hydra, the Red Room, the facility, it was all for... A sudden nausea made her run for the bathroom. The little contraption fell from her grip as she burst out.

When she was done, her body shaking and tears burning in her eyes, Natasha got up, seeing the Winter Soldier in the doorway. A blank look on his face.

"You're pregnant." Although he whispered these words it sounded like thunder in her ears.

"Yes."

A smile spread across James' lips as he walked towards her, pulling an injection needle from his breast-pocket. "Good."

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_Oh god, nothing of this was planned! I only wanted Clint to show worry and Natasha to make a test. But what it turned out… I mean, I wanted to fill the blank with Tasha showing symptoms of mood swings and dizziness, so I put those idiots of trainees there and then I thought about Steve helping her, and then I had already written the kiss XD And then… hey, still not enough. Let them know something about Hydra's plans… Oh my… I overdid it, didn't I?_


	7. Like father, like son

**Bloodline**

**Chapter 7: Like father, like son**

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The sound of a heartbeat woke her up. It took her several minutes to also recognize voices and even longer to finally open her eyes. Blurry was her memory but she did remember that it had something to do with James and…. - the baby! At first she only saw vague figures standing around her, then she understood what they were talking.

"Her vitals are very good and the baby's growing healthily so far, no abnormalities. " Some doctor said, looking through the chart he was holding. His eyes glanced at a monitor. "Her heart rate's going up. I think she's awake now."

"Oh, she's a little fighter. No wonder, with all they did to her in the Red Room." Someone said.

"I think it's time we start with the next step of phase one." Another man announced, a syringe in his hand.

Natasha wanted to protest but only a groan left her mouth while she fought against the bonds holding her strapped to the table.

"Well, well, Natalia. Don't stress yourself. That's not good for the baby." Someone said and Natasha remembered the voice from a long gone time.

"What are you doing to her?" James! That was James.

Natasha tried to look around, everything was still blurry, but she found him quickly, his form tall and dark. A pitiful cry for help escaped her lips and she hated herself for it.

"Injecting her with this serum here. It will strengthen the child while it's growing inside of her. The unborn is already blessed with your genes and hers, but we want it to be even more. We are going to breed the perfect soldier." The old man told him.

"And it will also speed up the pregnancy. She will give birth within the month." A young scientist explained, his voice filled with excitement while he checked the syringe filled with a blue liquid. "Shall we, then?"

Natasha's eyes widened in shock as he pointed the needle right at her stomach. She started to fight desperately against her bonds, her breathing fast and erratic. "No… please, don't."

"Hold her down, or she might hurt the child with all that struggling." The director ordered, clearly annoyed by her behavior. "You should know when you've lost a battle, Natalia."

The woman groaned out loud, fighting even more frantically. "You will not experiment on my child. Our child!" She shouted at James angrily.

The Winter Soldier closed his eyes for a moment but when he opened them again there was no mercy. He stepped forward and held her hips in place with a vice-like grip. "Do it quickly."

Natasha couldn't believe it, didn't want to. She had been a lab rat before, but this was worse. She didn't even have enough time to embrace and process the fact that she was pregnant, but she already loved her child dearly. It was so innocent, and these men were about to change its fate into a bloodshed.

With a sinister grin the man pierced the skin of her belly with the syringe, pushing inside until he was sure the injection would be at the right place, in the tissue around her womb. Meanwhile Natasha cried tears of desperation, her struggles futile while she saw the blue liquid being pumped into her system. It stung slightly at first, just as she had expected but what followed then made her whole body rise up in pain. "Hold her!" The doctor said before he finally finished emptying the syringe and pulling it out. Meanwhile she had started to seize, her heartbeat reaching critical limits, the equipment attached to her beeping in alarm. The world around her started to grow hazy.

"It was too much?" It was partly a statement, partly a question.

"Oh no. I don't think so. She's strong. She can stand it." The doctor assured him.

Natasha let out one last helpless moan as her body collapsed on the sheets. The moment she lost conscious her vitals started to normalize again.

"Good work, doctor. Let's have a look then."

At his command the scientists stepped back from her, so did the Winter Soldier, curious of what would happen now. The sight of Natasha's suffering didn't bother him at all. She had just been another job, although an unusual one, and now he would see the fruit of his efforts.

The doctor adjusted some instruments and pointed an object right at Natasha's stomach.

The Winter Soldier watched this closely, while a part of his attention still remained upon Natasha. She was barely awake and would surely appear unconscious for all who didn't know her as well as he did. Her eyes almost closed, only vague figures visible for her while she struggled to remain watchful.

Natasha felt her vision clearing while she tried to fix her eyes on the glass screen now showing movements of the being inside of her. After the doctor adjusted something the image became three dimensional and more tangible. Tears started to flow down her cheeks while she saw the little hands and feet moving as if the unborn wanted to squirm away from all this.

"Now." Someone said and pointed at the screen. With the steady pulse of her heart the liquid was finally entering the baby's tiny body. It flinched violently before starting to kick with a force unnatural for a human fetus.

If Natasha had not been strapped to the table she would have doubled over in pain. Her mind didn't want to believe what her eyes saw while her lower abdomen shifted around, bulging and stretching. Meanwhile the screen showed clearly that it was the baby creating this horrific scene.

"Magnificent," the doctor said and leaned forward, not caring about Natasha's moans of agony. "Look at that, you can almost see the child growing."

"Is this bad for her?" Barnes asked, careful not to show a trace of regret in his voice.

"Who cares about her?" the doctor said angrily. "This is what she was made for. Not in the first place, of course, but after she failed our expectations, this was a good option." He turned towards an assistant. "Give her enough nutrition. We want the baby ready soon and we don't want her to collapse before it's time. Change from ten to forty, for now. Tomorrow we'll set it for sixty after the next dose."

"Like father, like son", one of the younger scientists said with a smile.

The Winter Soldier looked at him curiously.

"This there," the man pointed out, "is definitely his cock."

"You're sure?" A boy? Memories of Steve and him during their children flooded his mind, as did the imagination of how he would teach the child to fight.

"Yes, unmistakably."

Natasha felt her heart aching. She didn't know why. For her it didn't matter at all what sex this baby had, she just wanted it to live and be oh so far away from all that was happening right now. But now it felt all the more real while she watched the little boy moving around.

"15th week now. In around ten hours it'll be just another week. In around five to eight days, it'll be ready." Someone said from behind her.

"Give her something to make the womb relax, it needs to work with us. If it doesn't, give her everything all over our chemistry chart, magnesium, whatever you have. We need her to carry it as long as we can. The longer he stays inside the motherly environment the better." The main scientist unpacked a couple of glasses with blue colored fluid inside them. "And, as far as her body can stand it, we need to give her as much of the super-soldier serum as we have. Stay as close to the limit as possible."

"Yes, sir."

A week? Natasha's mind was asking. How wrong could it get...? At this point she didn't care about herself anymore. The baby needed to be safe, far away from the hands of these people who think they could play god. The Black Widow tried to focus her eyes on the Winter Soldier, who still stood there, unblinking, his eyes fixed on the screen. There was this dark wonder inside of him, something that meant harm, pain and death...

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Barton checked his phone for the tenth time in just as many minutes before he tried to concentrate on his paper work again. Natasha should have met Bruce by now and she had promised to inform him as soon as she had the results. He shook his head and continued to fill the blank page with words that described his last mission with Natasha. It was difficult, for there had been many odds. For one was her disappearance for almost an hour and then the destroyed clothes. There had been similar troubles with the reports he had written the last month. He knew something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what yet. This was just so out of character for Natasha that it made no sense. Hopefully Bruce had answers. As the phone vibrated he picked it up even before looking at the screen. "Nat?"

"Clint, have you seen Natasha today?" Banner asked, his voice full of concern.

"I'm not at Shield today. I thought she wanted to meet you in the morning." Hawkeye looked up from the report he was just writing. "You have the results? Anything we should worry about?"

"Well, it is something private. But it's urgent. She hasn't answered her phone. Can you somehow check on her?"

Clint couldn't move at first, shock written plainly over his face. "Yes, of course. Her apartment at Shield housing isn't far. Give me five minutes and I'll call you back." He didn't even wait for Banner's answer, closing the mobile and quickly grabbing the spare keys to Natasha's apartment she had given him before he left his home and ran down the hallway, all the bad possibilities turning around in his mind. Natasha couldn't get sick, the serum didn't allow it. But something was definitely wrong.

Three minutes later he stood before her door and knocked while he tried to catch his breath. "Tasha, you're in there? It's me, Clint. You okay?" When no one answered he used the keys and already regretted not bringing his bow and arrows with him. The rooms seemed normal, with no sight of her. He checked the bedroom, the covers untouched. He was just about to call Banner again as he saw something on the floor next to her bathroom. Hawkeye picked up the small plastic device and stared at it for over a minute before he hit the redial on his phone.

"You found her?" Banner asked him. When Clint didn't answer he grew worried. "Is everything alright?"

After breathing in deeply, Hawkeye could muster speech again. "Do your results explain how Natasha can be pregnant?"

~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~

_I changed this a little bit because I didn't want it to look exactly like in Fringe, although I want to add that the reason why I loved that episode so much was because it was almost exactly how I would have wanted it XD_


	8. Futile

**Bloodline**

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_Sorry, this is a rather short chapter. I want to put some of the "make more of them" ideas into the next chapter, so you only have Nat's attempt at escape here, but believe me. It will hurt your soul when you read it. Have 'fun' ^^_

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**Chapter 8: Futile**

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"Steve Rogers." The Captain answered his phone, clearly still unsure if he hit the right button.

"Hey, there, this is Clint. I have a rather... personal question for you. But please, you have to answer it, maybe even several lives are at stake." Clint said, his voice almost monotone.

This struck a chord, making Steve freeze as he stopped walking towards his new trainees. "Okay?"

"Did you have sex with Natasha?" Clint said, careful and all the while wishing it had been Steve that...

"No! Of course not. Why do you even think about that? Natasha did some flirting with me, but, as I know, now nothing uncommon, yet we never went that far. My code of..."

Clint shut his phone the moment the Captain answered, not caring about what he would think. He had been sincere. That's all he wanted to hear. And it made this new case so much worse, because he had a suspicion what was going on. Quickly he dialed another number.

"Fury," the voice on the other side of the line answered firmly.

The archer didn't even bother about a greeting this time, knowing that Nick would get the message. "I need access to all security tapes of Natasha during her missions the last two months."

"You'll get it. Tell me why. She stored it onto her private files. I just believed she did what she had to do and didn't want it on..."

"Give me access," he countered shortly.

"Okay, I know when something's amiss and when I need to step back for further investigation, but at noon I want a full report," Fury said angrily but yet with a hint of worry.

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A mere half an hour later Clint was standing in front of Banner, who was still looking at his samples. "Do your results explain how Natasha can be pregnant?"

"What? How do you know?" Banner asked, exasperated as if the stress made him fight the Hulk again.

"She used a pregnancy test. Now tell me how the hell it can be positive." He threw the piece of plastic onto the table.

"I am still working on the how. I found another substance in Natasha's blood which could have led to that. I could ask Tony to help me analyze it." He readied the file to be send.

"No, not yet. Keep it private." Clint pushed the cancel button before it could be delivered. "I will check the security tapes. You work on the reason why Natasha became pregnant."

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Natasha ran as fast as her weak body and her protruding belly allowed it. She had no idea how far down she was as she climbed the stairs. This had to be some sort of underground base of Hydra. When she heard shouting and footsteps from above, Natasha quickly entered a hallway, leaning against the door and trying to catch her breath. This was so insane. She had no idea where she actually was. This facility could be miles away from even the smallest village, but she had to try it, for her baby.

A hard kick into her ribcage pushed the air out of her lungs and she had to steady herself. "Yes, my boy. We're gonna get out of here. I'll keep you safe from them, I promise." She gently caressed the bulge that had formed until the baby relaxed again. Meanwhile Natasha heard the men running past her. She sighed in relief, closing her eyes for a second before she turned around to enter the stairs again.

"Don't move." A dark voice told her while she felt a hand grabbing her wrist.

Natasha knew this velvety timbre, recognized these cold metal fingers. She felt his breath against her neck and tried not to shiver, to show her fear. "Let me go, James, please."

"You will not escape. The procedure isn't over yet."

"I will leave, even if it's over your dead body." She could barely keep the insecurity out of her tone but it seemed to be enough to startle him for a moment, his grip loosening slightly. It took her a second too long to tear herself from him.

He drew his gun and pointed it directly at her abdomen. "And also over our child's?" He purred into her ear while he pushed the barrel against her belly hard enough for her to notice.

"You wouldn't dare."

"No?" He chuckled darkly, putting his metal hand onto her stomach. "You know I would." He whispered against her ear before kissing her neck tenderly. "After all, we can try again." His fingers ghosted downwards until they reached the apex of her thighs.

"This is sick, even for you." She couldn't stop her voice from shaking or the tears from falling.

"Is it? Well, my girl, you have two choices, but they will both lead to the same outcome, only that you will lose our little boy in one of them. So...?" He pressed her against the door, his instincts taking over, only fueled by the still present drug that Hydra had given him to ensure an inhuman virility. His grin was wide while he breathed in her scent. "Oh, I would love to have you again."

"Please, James. It doesn't have to be this way." She tried to fight him but stopped instantly when she felt his gun being pushed harder against her, reminding her again what was on stake. "I know there is still good in you. They will take our baby away from us, your son. They will experiment on him, turn him into a killing machine."

"Just like his father." He pulled out an injection from his pocket, ramming it into her shoulder. The drug worked quickly, she didn't even have the chance to answer as her body collapsed into his arms. "Sleep now, my love. It will be over soon." He kissed the top of her head gently.

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Natasha heard voice talking about her while she tried to stay awake.

"How was it possible? There was no way she could have even attempted this escape."

The Winter Soldier looked to the side. He knew it all too well, and marveled at her methods. This woman was exceptional, the mother of his unborn son. The only one worthy of his genes.

"She must have pulled the IV out of her vein so we didn't notice. I saw a small bulge where the sedative was pumped under her skin instead of into her system. With the drug gone, she only had to open her cuffs." One of the medics said boldly and with interest, earning a hard blow to his head.

"I want security as tight as possible from now on. Soldier, you will aid them. I believe, after your... studies... you should be able to tell every move of hers."

The Winter Soldier suppressed a sigh. What a waste... These techniques were her specialty. And he could not deny the desire to watch her in action. "I will."

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After this incident life became a blur to her. She knew that the scientists were drawing blood samples, checking the baby via ultrasound and whatever else. But all felt like a dream, no, like a nightmare. It must have been almost two days until she was able to lift her head again while someone was describing the picture he saw on the screen. That was her baby. Now more than six months old, or so the scientist guessed. She could see the head, the arms, the feet. It was moving, curious and innocent. Her child, soon ready for the big dark world. How was that even possible? Natasha didn't have the strength to think about it while her body succumbed to the sedative.

For every life taken, a new one is born, the Winter Solder recited in his mind as he visited her after an assignment. Her belly had grown again even though he had been away for no more than a day. The hospital gown was pulled up, so he could see that the skin was taunt and thin, blue veins visible and the movements of the unborn easy to follow. Scientists were running around, measuring everything, noting what they found and changing the IV's drip speed to what they saw as limit.

Barnes followed the movements of his child. It was, as if it was hiding and shrinking away, clearly not wanting the attention. The urge to at least pull the sheet over Natasha's belly was great, but he did not succumb.

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_The next chapter will be about Bucky realizing that Nat will die when she has the baby and also about Hydra wanting him to make more babies like this one. It sounds weird but it will be even stranger for Bucky, believe me ^^ Please review ^^_


	9. Hydra's slaves

**Bloodline**

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_It's 2 am in the morning. My friend who writes her stories next to me is sleeping and I got a little tired of doing terminal runs with Scarlet Witch, Jean and Doc Doom in Marvel Heroes for lvling and prestiging. I had a sudden urge to write something and here it comes. Not sure yet how I'll deal with the 'maybe'-babies from Bucky, but I'll think of something... Hopefully it won't be too terrible._

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**Chapter 9: Hydra's slaves**

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She heard them talking, all the time, without being able to object to anything they were doing to her body or her baby. It was Hell to know what would happen and being powerless to avoid it. Countless times she tried to fight her way out but failed at merely opening her eyes. As if a nightmare was keeping her from waking up...

"She is only a vessel. The Black Widow program was partly a failure. But with his cells we can create more of him. With cloning, or the way he himself was created." The director told the father with a cold voice. It felt like ages since Natasha had been able to understand the murmurs around her, but this felt clear like the day.

"I want to train him myself, when he comes of age." A tiny bit of pride was leaking through the Winter Soldier's voice.

"Of course you will. And that won't take long actually. He does not only grow fast in her body. He will reach adulthood in about one or two years." He clapped him onto the shoulder. "Well done." He turned around to leave, when the Winter Soldier interrupted him.

"Is there a chance that Romanoff survives?" Suddenly his tone was cautious, not betraying his emotions to anyone who knew him.

"Well, not if we reach phase 2 of our plan." The man chuckled evilly, fully aware of what was about to happen sooner or later and giving a damn about any consequences.

"What do you mean by that?" Now the Winter Soldier's voice seemed startled, even to the untrained ear.

"She won't make it through the delivery." The director said without any hint of remorse. "As soon as we cut the cord she'll die. All her life will be concentrated inside the child. When we disconnect them, her will body gives up." He picked up a tablet screen and showed him some diagrams. "Your son will be even more powerful than Captain America. Finally the Super Soldier Serum reaches its pinnacle. And all that was needed was Mother Nature and a few liquids. Only when the integration of the serum's abilities takes place when the child is conceived, it entirely locks into the DNA and does not override it. The result is perfection." He chuckled.

Barnes put on a stoic façade again. "And there is really no chance...?"

"Oh, seriously? Come on! She has fulfilled her purpose. Yes, we could aid her, but that would mean much more engineering and that is costly. By far outweighs what we gain. The Black Widow is still a threat. As misguided as powerful. No need to keep her alive."

"But..." The Winter Soldier stopped when he saw Natasha move, barely being able to shake her head.

"Please, you have to help me. I know you have your orders. But I am begging you. This is also your son, your flesh and blood. How can you let them do this to your child?"

He stared at her, his eyes blank while he scanned her growing belly. "I do want him to be strong, just as Hydra does."

The director chuckled. "Well, that's the spirit. Be prepared, I have a surprise for you."

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

Clint couldn't believe his own eyes when he saw a dark shadow appearing on the screen. This couldn't be true... this...

They kissed each other with abandon, starting to tear their clothes apart just to be as close to each as possible. It was intense and so primal...

Hawkeye knew what came next, although he didn't want to believe. He had never gotten any intelligence yet alone knew about the Winter Soldier's presence in the building. He had known that something was amiss but...

"Clint, are you there? What is so interesting that you...?" Banner asked him from behind but stopped in his tracks as he saw the obscene happenings on the screen. "So he is the father..."

Startled, the archer looked around. "Bruce, did you find out anything?"

Banner grimaced as he watched a very brutal moment in the edge of his sight, trying to avoid the screen. "Well, yes. I couldn't make any sense of it before, but when I combined the serum I extracted from her yesterday to an older sampler of Natasha's blood I could see a difference in her... well DNA. I know it sounds weird but it seems like her whole body had been overwritten. Unlocked something."

"It made it possible for her conceive..." Clint finished while he thought about the many hours Natasha and he had spoken about what she could never have.

"Whoever did this to her wanted this pregnancy. That's the only purpose of the serum I found, well, not the only, it's merely the first stage." Bruce could feel the darkness reaching towards him and wondered how Natasha would feel right now, surely knowing all this too, wherever she looked for refuge, or being hold captive.

"So, she was captured because of the baby." Clint grimaced at the thought.

"It's not the only thing the serum changed." A voice said behind them.

Both of the turned around, a startled look on their faces as they watched Stark entering the room.

"No long speeches about privacy, please. Jarvis informed me that you were doing some research so I hacked into your files. Holy shit. The Widow actually had sex with Capsicle's buddy? Well, at least it looked like they had some fun doing so." Tony said casually, sitting down on a chair next to them, typing in some commands.

"I knew we could never trust you. That's why I wanted to keep this a secret until we know more." Clint countered angrily.

"Don't stress yourself. I can be of help." He finished attacking the keyboard and pulled up a video of Natasha and Barnes having sex in an alleyway. "I could pinpoint the moment of conception by using the data from Natasha's blood. This is what I found. Seems like the Winter Soldier is a one-hit-wonder. But no matter, the interesting part is this." He showed some diagrams. "This is a normal woman's progress when she is carrying a child. But, due to Natasha's enhanced genes her body is much faster. So, giving her samples she was already three months along when she was abducted by Hydra."

"Hydra?" Clint asked, not sure if he wanted to know about all the other circumstances he merely got a glimpse from.

"Barnes is still working for them, is he not? And it makes sense using him. He got a watered-down version of Cap's serum, just like Nat. Even though it's a different kind. And also, he trained her, so she knew him all along."

Dear sweet darkness, how could he know details even Natasha had never told him? Clint wondered.

Tony gave an annoyed sigh. "I hacked into Shield, remember? Got a lot more info than I wanted but I stored it, in case it came in handy. So, back to the topic." He pointed at the highest point of the diagram. "This is when she'll give birth, using the data I have so far. The stuff she got from them is only stage one. Preparing her body."

Clint shook his head. "But that is merely a month away! It is impossible for a human to..."

Tony stopped him with an arched brow. "Is Natasha as human as we are?" He turned to Banner. "Well, not you but..."

Bruce looked at him angrily, showing that they had still some talk to get over with that didn't concern Natasha.

Clint closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands. "This sounds all so weird." Yet he knew that Tony was very accurate, usually. "So you are saying she'll have the baby in four weeks?" He couldn't even try to get around the fact that she was pregnant at all.

"Maybe even less, when they strain her body to the maximum. And by knowing Hydra's methods they will. We need to get her out of there fast."

"And what exactly is 'there'?" Clint asked him angrily.

"No idea," Stark muttered with his head turned to the side.

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

When she heard a familiar voice next to her Natasha tried to open her eyes as far as she could, noticing James and another man towering above her.

"Since this vessel has proven to be useful, we will give you free access to the other Black Widows only engineered for the purpose of breeding."

"I told you already. It's only her I... made this for. And there will only be she." The Winter Soldier didn't even want to think about what Hydra had planned now. It was absurd and so cruel even his icy heart had troubles grasping it.

"You have your orders, and I am quite certain the mixture we gave you for her has not worn of yet. It's a wonder you don't crawl across the floor, craving a good fuck. We allow you to mount the others any time you like, and that hopefully will be soon." The man chuckled.

"I have my needs under control, director." Then he noticed the tears in Natasha's eyes. "She's awake."

"And crying. She is better off dead anyway. Seems like the obedient little girl doesn't like you having fun others."

_No_, Natasha's mind screamed at them. _Don't use more women for this fucked up shit._ She didn't know about other Black Widows only programmed for this purpose, but no one should have to suffer through this only to die anyway.

"Pathetic. Let's just hope the child possesses more genes from your side when it comes to emotional matters." He turned towards one of the doctors. "Sedate her. And heighten the doses, 20% more should not be lethal yet. We must advance and her body can endure a lot."

"How long until...?" He didn't dare to ask, stopping himself.

"We want her to nourish the baby as long as possible, we'll be stopping any upcoming contractions unless the child is in danger. She could make it to a little more than ten months of normal – human – time. We might need to cut the baby out then, but what would it matter? To answer your question: One week, maybe less. Too bad you really only seem to enjoy her bed. Well... Another round of brain-washing could surely fix this," he chucked darkly.

"Wait." He said before thinking about it more, not even wanting to imagine, so he shut the feelings out. "I will ensure that the others will be seeded."

"Good boy," the director laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Enjoy yourself." Otherwise he would have ordered to extract what was needed from the Winter Soldier.

"James..." a horse female voice begged next to them, "Please, don't."

"I said 'Sedate her.'" He angrily told the doctors and they followed his command quickly.

After the director had left the room he stayed with Natasha for a long while, staring at her face looked pain-ridden even in her sleep. She had to endure so much, only to be a vessel for yet another Hydra weapon.

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

"These are our best. They are trained in... comforting you. I want you to be done by tomorrow." He said before shutting the door behind him.

Barnes looked around the room. It was barely furnished, a small bed with no blankets, a table when the position got too boring, a toilet and a shower that surely only supplied cold water. The women however, seemed to be fine with their current living situation, maybe didn't even know else. They smiled at him, opening their robes to fulfill the pinnacle of their lives. It pained him to see this, but at the same time his loins were burning. The doctors had given him another dose of what they jestingly called 'Night's Fire' and he was more than ready to satisfy every single one of the wanton women. They were at least pretty if not beautiful. Although they lacked the fire Natasha had.

He counted them quickly. Fifteen. With the need that was pulsing through his member he was sure he could at least satisfy them twice, so he smiled gently, beckoning one of them closer. He could imagine she was Natasha, the same fiery hair, although it was slightly longer. She greeted him by bowing her head before going down on her knees in front of him. He aided her by opening his trousers while the other woman helped him out of his jacket and shirt.

Only minutes later he was on fire by the touch of the many women. Every one of them seemed to fight for the first round while he felt himself getting closer to the edge, enjoying the warm mouth now fully. The drug dulled his senses, and his remorse while he grabbed one of them by her red hair and threw her onto the sheet. He mounted her to fulfill his need. Quickly finishing while she sobbed beneath him, her body limp and sore from the harsh treatment.

The Winter Soldier didn't even remember the second one while his desire grew and his conscience slipped away. The dark red veil that clouded his sight lifted after the forth woman, or was it the eighth? He couldn't recall. He started to feel sleep pulling at him, but then he felt a sharp pain on his cheek.

The woman looked at him hungrily while the echo of the slap was still ringing in her ear. "You have not satisfied me yet." She told him with anger blazing in her eyes.

That was enough to turn him on again. He grabbed her and threw her against the next wall as hard as he could. The rage fueled the drug in his blood again and he felt refreshed, ready to go once more, many times more. If they kept this up... He shuddered before giving in to the kisses that were more bites than sensual contacts of pleasure. Nails were ripping his skin open. He could smell blood and it drove him into a killing edge. There were two options now: To kill or to fuck. And oh the second choice made him feel so much better...

Sometimes he gave them the chance to ride him, sometimes he took the lead and did the work himself, calling the woman he mounted Natalia. They did not mind for they knew it was crucial that he kept his passion.

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

"Report." He asked the red haired woman.

She shrugged and used a band to fix her hair straight backwards. Changing from wanton woman to cold blooded assassin. "He was very responsive. Especially with those who looked like her. Maybe dye the next group's hair in the right color. Making him angry works very well. The next group should use his rage to their advantage. He was like a wild beast riding us into oblivion."

The director arched an eyebrow. "Did you enjoy it?"

"He is skilled, but merely a tool. I did my duty, sir, nothing more." She put her hands onto her flat belly.

"Go to the doctors and let them check upon you and the others. Traces of his enhanced DNA will be found in even one or two cells when they mixed with your ova. The markers will be detected. Report to me how many have conceived over the day. As soon as you get positive results, you will submit to the treatment. There is no time to waste." He smiled at her. "Take care. You might now carry the most precious cargo."

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_I had this is mind for ages. No worries, Nat is my main priority. You won't hear much from these women in the future, but I wanted to show how cruel Hydra can be when they want something._


	10. When will the Icicle melt?

**Bloodline**

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_I hope you know this song ^^ I loved it so much when I was a teenager. The Cranberries are great, an… interesting voice, but still, that makes it even more amazing._

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**Chapter 10: When will the Icicle melt?**

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_I should not have read the paper today, _

_'Cause a child, child, child, child he was taken away. _

_There's a place for the baby that died, _

_And there's time for the mother who cried. _

_And she will hold him in her arms sometime, _

_'Cause nine months is too long, too long, too long... _

_How, how could you hurt the child, _

_How could you hurt the child? _

_Now, does this make you satisfied, _

_Satisfied, satisfied?_

_There's a place for the baby that died, _

_And there's time for the mother who cried. _

_And you will hold him in your arms sometime, _

_'Cause nine months is too long, too long, too long, _

_Too long._

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

"James, please, I beg you. You cannot agree with what they are doing to me, to our child. If they start phase 2, they will steal from him all that makes him human. He's going to be a machine, sent out to kill. Before he is even born, he will be sworn to bloodshed." Natasha didn't even know if he was there. The sedative now dulling all her senses so much she could barely make out shapes. Then she felt a cold hand on her arm, knowing it belonged to him. Too cold, too hard to be flesh.

"I will guide him. That I promise you, I owe you." He told her, his voice dark but gentle, and so quiet she knew it was only meant for her ears.

"I want to hold him." She felt the tears and didn't care about showing weakness anymore. For only a few weeks she was carrying this baby, and right now it was the only thing she could think about. Obsessed with the thought of at least making it right for her child. "I want to give him all my love, even if it's only for a moment."

"Natasha…" He didn't know how to tell her. She already knew, of course, but speaking it out loud would make it real, and turning her remaining week into a nightmare even worse than before.

"James, please, promise me," she cried. The Black Widow had never felt so helpless before, never been so lost. And the only one who could help was this assassin, with a ledger as red a hers and a mind that was desperately fighting, but loosing against the overwhelming powers of those who controlled him.

He made no sound as he turned away and left her there.

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

"We need to find her, Tony." Clint pressed while he watched Tony trying everything in the textbook.

"But we can't. Wherever they took her, it is out of our reach." The inventor sighed in defeat, burying his face in his hands after another hack showed no results concerning Natasha.

"We can't establish any sort of contact. Maybe, maybe she can't send us a message because that would mean bringing her out in the open. Maybe she is fine somewhere out of range and…" Clint rambled on.

"Stop fooling yourself, archer. They have her." Tony said angrily.

"Guys, you won't believe this!" Banner almost shouted, storming into the lab. "Barnes just showed up in Fury's office, and I mean literally in his office. He's here!"

"What?!" Clint stood up fast enough to knock over his chair.

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Fury said at his desk calmly, his fingers entwined while he watched them entering, but still keeping an eye on Barnes in the seat next to the window.

"Oh my god… I thought you were kidding." Tony said, exasperated.

"How dare you even come here?" Clint growled angrily at Barnes who just kept his blank expression.

"First thing's first. Why did no one tell me Natasha is pregnant?" Fury asked the three of them.

"That is of no importance," the Winter Soldier stepped in while he got up and walked towards them slowly, enjoying their sudden fear. Yes, at least he still had a reputation other than a breeding stallion.

"Why are you here?" The archer asked him, wishing he had his bow brought with him.

"Because I need your help. No, actually Natasha needs your help." He pulled out a vial with a liquid in it. "You need to find something that disables the negative aspects of this serum. It is used…"

"...to get her knocked up and speed up the pregnancy. We know." Tony said, finally gaining his confidence and cockiness again.

There was a glimpse of desperation in his eyes before it disappeared, making them believe they only imagined it. "So you won't be able to help her?"

"Now that we got our hands on a pure sample of what was used, I think we can work something out." Tony continued as he walked towards him, snatching the sample from Barnes' hand before taking quick steps backwards.

"Just save her. That is the only thing I ask for. She fought so hard for this, for… holding him. And since the birth will kill her…" He couldn't continue with his heartfelt speech because everyone started shouting at him. He waited for the outburst to ebb and started again. "The serum's only purpose is to make the child strong, therefore it also uses everything the mother can give him. There will be no more strength left in her, if we can't reverse the effects. Hydra wants Natasha dead and so they didn't develop a serum to keep her stable long enough for her own healing to finally kick in and give her even the tiniest possibility to survive."

"So we need to somehow make the powers of the serum flow back into her. That sounds more like magic and not science." Bruce was already thinking about something, but his mind was blank. He never invested that much time into Hydra's strange ways of doing things until the Tesseract came around, and even so, he was just grasping a glimpse.

"We could make the baby die inside of her before it is ready to be born. That will surely solve the problem." Tony suggested, knowing that this was a quick and more or less clean way.

"NO!" The Winter Soldier shouted at him, his eyes showing so much desperation and fear. "Natasha would rather die than loose this baby."

"Why are you so sure?" Fury asked, finally entering the conversation.

"Because she told me. She just… She wanted to hold him, for him to be happy. And I will make sure of that. I will be the one to train him. He won't become Hydra, I promise." Barnes' voice was hoarse, showing his desperation.

"As if we could trust you with that. You knocked her up, took her to Hydra and let them experiment on her." Tony used his mocking voice and chuckled darkly. "Why would you keep your word?"

"Because I promised it to Natalia," he said sternly, finally regaining his ground in the situation.

That made Clint falter and bite back another remark. He sounded so sincere. Maybe something of Steve's friend was still in there.

Because not all of them we sure yet, Barnes continued, knowing he got them now. "I trained her, I trained Natalia when she was a child, barely on the verge of becoming a woman. And she grew into the most amazing woman I have ever seen." He wanted to lure them into it, by telling the truth that even shocked the Winter Soldier himself. "I love her."

The room was silent for a moment. Everyone processed this thought and they all came to the same conclusion.

"We will help, but under our conditions." Fury told him calmly.

The Winter Soldier only nodded, awaiting his next words.

"Tony and Bruce will work on a serum. Clint will plan the escape. You must bring her to us. I am sure they already suspected something since you are gone without order. You will get her out of there as soon as you see a window of opportunity. Then, when our scientists here are ready we will treat her so she AND the baby make it." He glimpsed at Tony and Bruce who were showing confidence but also the lack of time. "When is she due?"

Barnes suppressed a sigh of relief. There would be a happy ending for Natasha. "The natural birth would be in two days. Hydra wants her to keep the child in for longer, around the tenth month. So…"

"They want what?" Now Clint's anger flared again.

"Alright. That is all I needed to know. Banner, Stark, you have two days. That must be enough. Barnes, whenever you see the chance, get her out of there. Clint will give you a transmitter to activate as soon as you have a signal."

Barnes nodded and replied the way he was trained to, "Yes, sir."

"We will try to secure your cover. No word of this gets out, in case someone wants to listen." With a gesture of his hand he send them away.

~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~

"You incompetent idiot!" The Director shouted at him as soon as he slipped back into his quarters, of course undetected.

"Sir?"

"Only three women were knocked up."

"And the babies are well?" The Winter Soldier asked, his voice monotone.

"Of course not. Why would I be so angry if they were? As soon as we started our treatment they lost whatever fruit was growing in their wombs." He almost shouted at him.

_And how is that my fault,_ the Soldier wanted to ask but bit back this remark. "So I will seed another round," playing his part...

"Not until we figured out why." He was angry, that was all too clear, and his temper was unpredictable.

_They were not Natasha_, his mind whispered to him. "I will await your orders." he said instead.

~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~

That night Natasha couldn't sleep, although her body was shivering from exhaustion. The doctors said she was at around the 45th week and she felt like it. Although the tranquilizers were dulling everything, she could also feel the stretch of her body, the weight of the child. They had started giving her everything they knew to stop any contractions from happening until they thought her time had come. James hadn't showed up since their last talk, and she didn't want to imagine whatever Hydra forced him to do now, especially to other women.

Yet none of that mattered to her anymore. The only thing she wanted was to hold this baby in her arms. For many more hours she stayed in this state of wake and sleep until she felt that familiar cold hand.

"You asked me if I agree with it. I do not. I am going to save you. But we have to be quick. As soon as I disconnect you from the IVs the birth will start within hours. I have to get you to S.H.I.E.L.D., where they will deliver the baby. You will survive the birth, I promise you."

That was a dream, Natasha knew it. She didn't fight the person pulling out the IVs and loosening the bonds that held her to the table. She actually smiled at the dream making her believe someone was carrying her away until the drugs were neutralized by her enhanced system.

"Natasha, do you hear me? Please stay here for a moment. I have to clear the next corridor." Barnes told her.

As if she could run away now… Natasha nodded while her mind finally started working again. This was for real! The adrenaline counteracted the remains of the tranquilizers. Now she was wide awake, trying to understand this situation. She could hear gunshots and men screaming. Protectively she covered her belly.

"Now come!" Barnes grabbed her, pulling her to her feet. "I have signaled the archer. They are on their way, but we have to make it to the upper level and out of here so they can pick us up."

Her training kicked in. "Do you have a gun?"

The Winter Soldier smiled at her proudly. She was so perfect… "Here," he said as he handed her a gun. "But don't accidently shoot me."

"I would never dare," she smiled at him. This could work. With the two of them together, nothing was impossible.

~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~

Natasha ran as fast as she could, but soon her breath was running thin. "Wait, please, just a minute."

"We don't have a minute." He shouted at her as tried pulling her along but stopped when the realization dawned upon him.

She rubbed her back. "It's just... it hurts." The next moment a terrible stab of pain shot through her belly and a puddle of fluid was forming at her feet. "Oh, no, no, no! Not yet." A heart tearing scream escaped from her throat as she sank to her knees in agony.

"It's starting. We have to get out of here." He urged her to get up again but it was futile.

"Why can't we simply hide and after I had the baby we leave. I think I can stand it. I don't care about the serum." She was gasping now.

"No, Tasha, you can't. Even if we somehow make you deliver him naturally, you will die." He tried pulling her along.

"Oh, please, wait. I can't walk anymore. It's... I think I can feel his head." Her voice was so desperate, so helpless...

"What?" He stared at her hands, held between her legs. "It has merely been half an hour. The director said it would take you almost a day to get to this point."

Natasha went to her knees slowly, grabbing beneath the hospital gown. "I think the running made a difference then." She leaned back against the wall and lowered herself slowly, trying to catch her breath.

"But we have to be able to do something." He rudely grabbed the gown and shoved it up. The Winter Soldier had expected her to overreact a little, but when he saw the child's head crowning between her legs, he grew frantic. "But it can't happen already."

"Well, it's not like I was actively helping." Tears were running down her cheeks. "With every contraction I feel this fierce need to help the baby out."

"Don't push. Please, not yet. We have to fix this."

"But how?" Natasha screamed at the next wave of pain came.

Barnes' eyes widened as he saw the child head moving further. "Stop pushing." He put his hands onto her entrance, as if that would stop the baby somehow.

"I am not. Oh god, it hurts so much."

"It's only 5 floors until the reach to ground level. When we can make it up there and into public, we can call an ambulance. Just a few more minutes."

"We don't have minutes." The contraction still hadn't stopped and she knew that the child's head was only seconds away from emerging.

"Damn..." He looked up into her eyes. "I am sorry." He put one hand onto her shoulder for support and the other onto the baby before he pushed against it.

"You will hurt him." Natasha gasped in denial trying to get his hands away.

"He is strong, believe me."

~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~

"What the hell is that?" Tony asked angrily as another simulation failed.

"It is one of the most advanced molecules I have ever seen." Bruce said, still in shock at what it did so harshly.

"How the hell could we ever reverse it, yet along make it bring Natasha through the delivery alive." Tony was trying another combination and failed.

In that moment Clint stormed into the room. "Barnes' signal has been activated. We need to leave NOW!"


	11. Struggling for life - or: the lullaby

**Bloodline**

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

_Finally, you get your second part, and prepare either handkerchiefs or something to throw up in… No, just a joke, but be prepared. It'll be hard._

_after I finished the chapter: Okay, for the ending, be prepared to have someone next to you to sob into his/her chest. Damn, I cried myself. With the Russian lullaby that I just took because it was the first and it fit… OMG! Okay, just read._

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

**Chapter 11: Struggling for life - or: the lullaby**

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

"We can't leave yet. We have nothing to offer her. All our tests failed so far." Banner announced and saw how Clint's face fell.

"Take whatever you have to keep her alive until you find something. They are not far away, but we need to reach them as soon as possible. The Winter Soldier will have a hard time taking care of Romanoff while also protecting them from Hydra." Clint ordered angrily.

"I'll stay here and run a few more tests. Load the replicator into the jet. When I come up with something, I'll send you the results and you can produce a cure." Bruce offered while he ran around preparing everything.

"You sure you can do this?" Tony's voice was filled with uncertainty.

"I work best under stress," the doctor said with a fake smile.

"Don't lay my tower into ashes until you find a cure." He gave him one more pat on the shoulder before he was off.

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

When his attempts failed he tried harder. "You have to relax or this won't work."

"Oh god!" Natasha tried to fight him off. "Stop!"

"No, Natasha, I'm begging you, please. Don't give up now. We can do this. Only a few floors until you see your friends again, and they will help you. I am sure they are already waiting for us, fighting their way into the base." He became more and more desperate, and this was the moment the Winter Soldier realized that he needed her, so badly. But right now he had to be the strong one, the one who told her what to do, taking the reins. And even if it meant hurting her, he was going to save her life.

"No, just… let me… push, and I will…" She knew something was wrong, she felt it. This cold... while the colour drained from her face.

"Natalia, oh my…" He watched her eyes rolling back, her body going limb while her body stopped to struggle. "Damn!" Barnes shouted and did what he had to do. There were no complaints this time, no screaming, no… sign of… He pushed this thought aside. No, they would save her. As he withdrew his arm, he saw the blood all over it and for the first time in his life he felt really sick at the sight of it. There was something wrong, but had no idea of how to fix it right now. He had to get her up there. Natasha was strong, he knew that. She would make it, she had to. But he didn't want to know what the Black Widow would do when she woke up and realized that her child was gone.

With a quick glance he checked the hallway before picking her up in his arms. Only a few more levels to go.

~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~

"I think I found something!" Bruce shouted into the intercom after he had pressed the button.

Tony quickly ran over to the panel. "You have? Does it work?"

"I think so. At least it neutralizes the serum they used on her. But the cells are having a hard time staying alive. Also… I think it could destroy Natasha's abilities. It also attacks the super soldier serum inside of her. It's all combined now and therefore indistinguishable. But my cure doesn't only shut down her original serum, it also attacks the tissue that is now unprotected and doesn't have the enhanced healing abilities. Right now I only have her blood to work with. The blood cells are renewed more often than others. The white blood cells died right away, the red ones are holding up a little longer. I am not entirely sure, if it won't kill her in the long term…" Bruce spoke while his voice changed as if he just read the results changing for the worse as he told his message.

"It is our only shot right now. So we'll use it. Try and… produce a cure for our anti-serum as soon as you can. When we delivered we'll pump her full of it, and all effects will be reversed, right?" Tony tried to sound confident, wanting Bruce to also feel this way, to give him the strength, but…

"Since I know how our stuff works, it will be much easier to do that. Don't worry. Yet, I fear that…" Bruce's voice broke.

"Ten minutes out, Stark," Clint told him without even turning around and giving in to his anger. He had heard the conversation and was not delighted yet he knew even more pressure wouldn't do any good.

"What, Bruce?" Tony tried to ignore the archer. Even with their high-tech tools it would take twenty minutes to create enough serum.

"She might lose her abilities. It might make her human." The doctor's voice was shaking even more now.

Tony ran this thought through his head but simply nodded. "I will ask her if she consents. Send me the pattern. We need to be prepared. And find a solution for a cure."

~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~

He ran, not caring about the bullets that grazed and hit him. As long as he could still walk…

"Barnes!" Someone shouted at him as a blinding light took his sights for a moment. Then the Shield agents appeared, shooting at the Hydra soldiers behind him.

Yes, at last…

The Winter Soldier heard the shot before he actually felt it. His leg gave out and he crumbled to the ground, trying to protect Natasha during his fall. He hit the tarmac hard, his arms around the woman he loved. He felt her struggle and cough, finally regaining conscious. Her frightened cry made him center himself again. He took a shallow breath before pushing himself up, his hands shaking as he checked for more injuries on her. Yet except some minor bruising Natasha was unharmed.

The shooting stopped and he saw more and more legs gathering around them at the edge of his vision while his mind was only focused on her. Finally he looked up, searching for Clint's eyes. "Please, save her."

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She was awake, but barely made a sound. Everything was so far away. Natasha wanted to scream, in agony, in frustration, but when she felt a cold hand on her she finally found her ground again, opening her eyes. "James," her voice was hoarse.

"You are safe now. They will take care of you." He looked at Tony who was about to connect a bag filled with light blue liquid to her IV.

"Hey, Red, before I do this, I have to ask you a question." He tried to sound reassuring, but failed entirely while his hands started to shake so he put the bag aside for a moment. "We made something to counteract the effects that would kill you, but it also attacks the super soldier serum and your own body. You would survive the birth, but you will have a hard time afterwards and your abilities might get lost in the process."

"And the baby? Give me the drug and please save the child." Losing her super human strength? What did it matter? She only wanted to hold her child once, and this was enough for her. The monitor next to her showed her distress, she needed to be calmed down.

"For now everything looks fine and the cure won't harm the baby much. He can take it for sure. We only need to deliver him quickly, as soon as we get back to my tower. For now... Natasha, are you listening to me?" He saw her drifting off again, her blood pressure dropping. "Shit! Give her another blood transfusion and hang this on as well." He shoved the bag to one of the doctors. His shaking hands couldn't do this right now. "Damn, we need to stop the bleeding wherever it is…" There had been no grave wounds visible which meant it was the birth taking its toll on her.

"She has been bleeding for a while now." Unconsciously the Winter Soldier flexed his hand, the metal still stained with her blood.

"Get me the portable ultrasound." Tony commanded. The well-trained team of doctors fulfilled every of his wishes within a few seconds. Natasha was now getting the cure, blood and pain meds, the mixture finally giving her enough strength to regain conscious.

"Here, Mister Stark." A nurse gave him the probe and spread some gel over the belly.

Barnes cringed at the sight of her exposed form. There seemed no time enough for dignity. All laid bare now while another doctor, at least a woman this time, was sitting on a low stool between Natasha's legs, her entrance filled with metal instruments as she worked at checked. "Something is wrong here. I can't see the head."

"What do you see? Feet?" Damn, suddenly he realized that he had prepared himself much less for the delivery itself than Bruce had. If it had to happen now…

"No, Mister Stark." She pulled the instruments out and looked up at Natasha who had a horrified expression on her face, knowing what would come next, what she would announce as soon as... The doctor took a deep breath before she spoke. "Miss Romanoff, I will need to enter your body to check on something, okay?" The mother merely nodded and tried to relax as she closed her eyes.

Barnes tried not to flinch as he heard her desperate cry before she grounded herself again, only sobbing now, trying to be brave.

"I can feel the shoulder." The doctor said as she pulled her hand back. "Mister Stark, can you please confirm it with the ultrasound?"

"What does that mean now?" Barnes asked, but wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Tony was unmoving for a second before he finally did what he was told to. "It means we will have a hard time to do a natural delivery."

"Stark, one minute out! Get ready to transfer her." Clint shouted at them. "Whatever you have to do or need to check you do it the med wing, sterile and with proper equipment." With his words he also wanted to reassure them that as soon as they reached Bruce it would all go well.

By now Stark had not only confirmed the position of the child, he also found the source of the bleeding. And he knew they wouldn't have much time. "Can we turn it?" He asked the doctor.

She shook her head. "We could break the child's neck if we tried and do more damage than good on her. A C-section is our only option now. We'll prepare a epidural as soon as we got her transferred. That will also give the serum enough time to counteract the deadly symptoms of Hydra's."

Tony nodded and tried to brace himself for what was to come. "She is still bleeding internally. Damn, what caused this?"

"But I have seen the child's head already." Barnes muttered finally and wasn't heard at first, but then he felt several eyes on him.

"What did you do?" Tony asked darkly. He still didn't trust the Winter Soldier entirely.

"When we made it halfway through the base she was complaining that she felt the child and wanted to push, when I checked on her, it… I didn't know what else to do. Natasha didn't actively help but the baby still moved. So I pushed it back." He had tried to save her and only made it worse…

"You… what?" He tried to stand firm while the Quinjet touched the ground, everything shaking.

"It doesn't matter how. We have to concentrate on fixing it now." The doctor stepped in, knowing Tony was about to hit the other man. "Mister Stark, I wouldn't have acted differently in that moment." Yet she would have taken better care.

Meanwhile, although weakened, her super soldier powers had started to repair parts of the damage done to Natasha's body. She was wide awake now and the pain meds doing almost nothing to help her. She was back to where everything had gotten worse about an hour ago. Including the contractions and the need to help the baby out. "So I can't push now?" She asked weakly.

The doctor reacted to her words while the others prepared her for transfer. "No, my dear, you can't."

"But I have to…" Desperation spread across her face and as the pain came again. She tried to fight the instinct but had a hard time.

"Breathe through it. You can do this. Breathe." She urged her.

Natasha started to wail as the agony reached its peak. "Oh god, I can't stop it." She was about to raise up and do as her body told her.

Barnes was above her within a blink. "No, you can't. Deep breaths," he ordered her in the way he once did when she was still young.

Her training kicked in and she centered herself again, another deep intake, then she had her body under control once more. "Okay. I'm fine." She put on a brave face.

Barnes was about to kiss her forehead when someone shoved him away. He merely stood there while the doctors rushed her out.

"Sir, we need to take care of your wounds," a younger nurse said to him.

It took him a moment to realize someone was talking to him. "No, it's fine. I heal quickly." He looked down at the bloody floor he was standing on, his torn clothes in deep red. Well, it would take a while. "I need to be with her now." He moved after them, and had just enough time to slip into the elevator besides them.

As soon as the door opened again an even greater amount of doctors waited them in the corridor. And also…

"Bucky…" Steve stared at his friend, not sure if he would be allowed to touch him. "How is she?"

"I don't know… I…" Suddenly so much more was crashing onto him. Guilt of long past and recent mistakes. But he needed to focus, he needed to help her. "I need to be with her."

"I have orders from Fury. You are not allowed in the delivery room, actually he wants you locked up, but I persuaded him that I would be enough as a guard." Steve weighed his words carefully.

"I can understand that," Barnes nodded and sighed. "But I…"

"You can watch. They have a window there and I'll make sure they won't close the blinds. Come on." He took his arm and walked him over.

~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~

"Okay, over here." Stark demanded from Clint. Together they lifted her onto the bed. "Now, Bruce is going to check on you while I prepare another ultrasound." He gently pressed her shoulder as reassurance.

"Barnes said…," Banner waited a moment too long to finish, not trusting the news he had gotten a few seconds ago, "he has pushed the child back inside?"

"Yes. It was all too fast. Argh." Another contraction hit her, this time it felt far worse. The baby moved inside of her. "I fear, that something - is wrong." She managed.

"Accidently he turned it as well. The doctor said there was no way she could reverse this." Tony explained.

"Hmm, that would mean she can't deliver naturally." Bruce got into work mode, the gloves on his hands by now as he tested the progress. "I think I can feel something, but… - Tony, the ultrasound!" He knew she already lost conscious a few times, and he knew how hard this was on her body. Yet she had healed, so far. Her still being alive showed that. And oh god, she was tougher than a normal a human, but Bruce knew, she could fight death only for so long, especially since her super soldier serum was slowly shutting down.

"Getting ready." He turned on the machine and handed the probe to his friend.

A quick glance on the screen was enough to confirm Banner's fear, but also hope lit his eyes as he turned to the printed picture of the ultrasound Tony had made so far. "The child has turned a little on its own accord. It is not as critical as before. There might be a chance, but the C-section would be a wiser decision I think." Before he could say any more, the contraction reached its peak. "Oh, wait! Let me try something. I'm sorry, this is going to hurt now." He gave the probe back to Tony and put one hand on her belly, the other entered her.

Barnes winced as he saw when they were doing to her. He never imagined it would be this cruel. He had thought that as soon as he reached her friends they would take care of her, help her. A tear rolled down his cheek before he could blink it away. "No…"

"Keep your heads up. Bruce knows, what he's doing." Steve assured him.

Natasha screamed in pain, her instincts telling her to break free from the people now holding her down. "Oh, god, stop!" Then something shifted inside of her. The pressure nearly tore her apart before it was suddenly gone, no, not gone, just… better. An exhausted sigh left her lips as the contraction passed.

"Done!" Bruce announced happily and checked the position with the probe once more. "It is coming head first again. She will make it."

"How did you do it? I thought the doctor said it was not possible."

"Both mother and child are enhanced. The baby's spine is much stronger than usual and Natasha's contractions are much more effective. It only needed a little bit of help." Bruce tried to calm his racing heart. This had been a gamble, but he had won.

"So I can finally push now?" Natasha wanted to know, trying to sound brave.

"As fast as possible," Stark said with furrowed brows as he checked his instruments, snatching the probe from Bruce. "The baby's vitals are dropping."

"Tony!" Banner's voice was filled with shock and horror. He lifted his hands as he looked up to his friend, his gloves smeared with blood. Had he done something wrong? Maybe his decision had been too drastic.

A quick look on the screen showed him why. "We have a premature placental separation. We got to get the baby out now. Oh my god…" He saw the fetal monitor flat-lining.

"We only have a few minutes until there'll be brain damage." Bruce was returning to his analytic self, knowing this would serve best. "She's dilated and I can already see the head. The contractions are two minutes apart, so we need to make it during one."

"Is that even possible?" He eyed the exhausted assassin. She could barely stay awake.

"If we help her by pushing her legs towards her belly she might tear, but…"

"That won't work. Ah, damn it. Because of the quick pregnancy her womb tissue is too thin. It would tear as well. We'll need to do the C-section." They were arguing, loosing precious seconds. "Cut her open, right now!"

"We don't have enough time for a epidural." Bruce announced while he looked at the equipment helplessly.

"Please, save him!" Natasha cried at them. "Do what you have to do. I can stand it!"

"We already have a lot to patch up. But we need to go in there anyway to stitch her together. Yet… She can't be awake while we…" Bruce shivered while he tried to fight his other side down. This was not a moment for the Hulk, certainly not, while Natasha needed all medical care he could give her.

"If fates are kind, I might black out," she said with hoarse voice and dry humor before laying back and closing her eyes.

"Nat…" Barton took another step towards her.

"Clint, please, be with them. James won't be able to handle Alexei on his own." The tears ran down her cheeks, while she heard surgical equipment rattle as Banner and Stark got ready in a hurry.

"Alexei?" The archer asked with a broken voice and looked at Barnes behind the glass.

"Natasha, are you sure about this?" Bruce asked her again, the scalpel in his hand.

She nodded while trying to breathe through the contraction.

Meanwhile Clint's eyes hadn't left the Winter Soldier outside. His expression, so terrified and guilty while he tried to keep his hopes up. It was that look that made the archer believe his words. He loved her. With a nod and a gesture towards Natasha he allowed Barnes to enter.

The assassin had reached Natasha's bed before anyone even registered his entrance. He took her hand with the most gentle care and whispered a kiss against her skin that made her eyes open. "Natalia…"

By now the others noticed his arrival but didn't object, knowing it would help her. With shaking hands Bruce got ready to cut, but stopped when he realized he couldn't steady himself. Then another hand joined his, cold and hard.

"I trust you," the Winter Soldier said calmly. "And so does Natasha."

After another deep breath Bruce cut her skin open and tried to blink away the tears as listened to the helpless cry of the mother. The only thing the doctor could hear was Natasha's sobbing. It took him the ability to take the next step.

"Check the incision. Is it deep enough?" Or too deep? Tony asked. He had read on upon it, but nothing had prepared either of them for this.

Bruce's hand carefully entered her body, checking the cut. "Yeah, I think, I can…" Only a blink after that her heart rate started to drop.

"It's so cold…" She gasped. "Like the times we trained in the snow."

The Winter Soldier remembered that all too well. "And you were so strong. You got up every time I threw you down, although your body was shaking and your lips were so blue. You've grown so strong, Natalia. You have endured so much suffering and still you are fighting. And you will overcome this, I promise you. I trained you. I know you can!" He almost shouted at her, eyes fixed on her face contorted in pain while he heard the monitors going haywire. "I'm here. I'll take care of you, I promise."

Bruce tried to get a proper hold of the baby and finally succeeded. He pulled it out of her and waited for the nurse to cut the cord.

Everyone in the room stopped for a short moment while they waited for Natasha's body to respond. She sobbed. "Oh, please, is he okay?"

"The cure worked," Tony sighed in relief. "Okay, give her the other drug. We need to get her own serum working again." He ordered the nurses. Luckily Banner had been able to come up with something reversing the effects. "Now let's take care of that little boy here." He knew Bruce would not be able to go another step towards panic, the Hulk too close. So he snatched the still baby from his arms and put him on the table beside the bed. With quick hands he cleaned the baby's airways while another doctor attached some wires onto the child's breast. Before doing anything too drastic, the engineer first ventilated five times and hoped for the best, yet the baby lay motionless on the blanket. "Alright, you don't want to make this easy, do you?" A sidelong glance to the monitors now attached showed him there was still no activity whatsoever. So he started with careful pushes against the baby's rips. "Did you find get an IV on him already?"

"Not yet," the nurse said in frustration. "I would advise intraosseous."

"Do it," he almost groaned in desperation. They had taken too long to deliver… "Let's try to also cool him down. Hypothermia. That'll keep the brain damage at a minimum."

"We won't have enough time." The nurse said.

"Let's try."

Meanwhile Natasha watched Tony's attempts with hooded eyes as Banner and another doctor tried to patch her up again. She had lost a lot of blood and her wounds were still bleeding, more and more cloths were being pushed into her body while they pulled the soaked ones out again. But all that was so far away. She didn't care anymore. With a sob and tears in her eyes she looked up to Barnes. His face contorted in distress and fear. "He'll do it, right?"

The Winter Soldier swallowed and nodded. "He is a strong one."

"I only wanted to hold him. Now I made it, but at the cost of my child's life?" She started to cry.

"You will hold him in your arms and you will kiss those beautiful black locks of his." He had seen them, sticky with blood and fluid, but they were his.

"I knew he would look like you." She said with a weary smile. "Oh, he will be so handsome, won't he?" It was getting harder to breathe.

"We should really put her under," the doctor pointed out. "A epidural will be too difficult in this situation, but now that they child won't be hurt by the sedative…"

"No, don't!" Natasha said the words before she even registered hearing the advise. "I don't want to leave him alone."

"Miss Romanoff, you are suffering." He looked at her opened belly and wondered if it was shock that made her so calm.

"No, the serum is already restarting. I have a very high pain tolerance. And I don't want to miss his first cry." She moaned as the doctor pulled the stitches together.

"Damn, I can't work with this tissue. It's far too brittle." He saw the wound opening again, blood gushing out once more. "Suction."

Bruce knew that, although it seemed absurd, it was important to keep her awake now. Her healing abilities would soon kick in and help them along the way. He needed to keep her talking. "What will you name him?"

Barnes froze for a second. He didn't know if it was because of the fear that he would name a dead child, or that he hadn't even thought about this yet. His eyes searched Natasha's.

"I want to name him Alexei. Alexei James Barnes." Her head rolled to the side.

The Winter Soldier knew what this meant, her body relaxing. "That's a wonderful name. Thank you for him. Truly. I know this all started the weirdest way, but… It is just wonderful." He chuckled helplessly. In only a few minutes he might have lost both of them, and never forgive himself. "Tell me, what a mother would you like to be? I can imagine he will turn out great being raised by you. Strong, graceful and protecting."

"I will sing to him at night." She said, her eyes growing hazy. "The memory of a lullaby… I can't tell from where I know it." It pained her suck in air. "But I imagined myself these past days with him in my arms, fed, changed and content, but still awake, so I would sing to him. And he would look up at me with his blue eyes. So curious, and knowing nothing about what I have done in my past. He is so innocent…" Her eyes closed.

"Tell me more. Tell me about the song." He looked at Bruce who was adding another blood bag as they worked. The Winter Soldier didn't even dare to look at Tony and his son. It had taken too long already. Whatever they were doing it was already too late…

She reached for her last reservoirs. "It's a Russian song."

"Sing it to me." He urged her even further, gently caressing her cheek.

Clint had stayed silent so far. Didn't want to disturb or distract them. But when he heard Natasha's voice, even he started to cry. She had a beautiful voice, hoarse, but strong, engulfing. It embraced everyone in the room. Only he and Barnes were able to understand what she was singing but…

"Спи, младенец мой прекрасный,

Баюшки-баю.

Тихо смотрит месяц ясный

В колыбель твою.

Стану сказывать я сказки,

Песенку спою;

Ты ж дремли, закрывши глазки,

Баюшки-баю.

Сам узнаешь, будет время,

Бранное житье;

Смело вденешь ногу в стремя

И возьмешь ружье.

Я седельце боевое

Шелком разошью...

Спи, дитя мое родное,

Баюшки-баю.

Богатырь ты будешь с виду

И казак душой.

Провожать тебя я выйду —

Ты махнешь рукой...

Сколько горьких слез украдкой

Я в ту ночь пролью!..

Спи, мой ангел, тихо, сладко,

Баюшки-баю. "*

Barnes translated in his mind.

'_Sleep, my beautiful good boy, _

_Bayushki bayu, _

_Quietly the moon is looking _

_Into your cradle._

_I will tell you fairy tales _

_And sing you little songs, _

_But you must slumber, with your little eyes closed, _

_Bayushki bayu._

_The time will come when you will learn _

_The soldier's way of life, _

_Boldly you'll place your foot into the stirrup _

_And take the gun._

_The saddle-cloth for your battle horse _

_I will sew for you from silk. _

_Sleep now, my dear little child, _

_Bayushki bayu._

_You will look like a hero _

_And be a Cossack deep in your heart. _

_I will accompany you and watch you go, _

_You will just wave your hand._

_How many secret bitter tears _

_Will I shed that night! _

_Sleep, my angel, calmly, sweetly, _

_Bayushki bayu.'_

Clint felt the tears in his eyes at her words. No, damn it, they had to live, both of them. The three had earned this. A happy, wonderful life together. It was absurd, even impossible considering the parents, but…

Tony muttered something under his breath, frustration growing. They finally were able to get the meds into the child, but it seemed not to help. The disturbing noise of a small amount of electroshock was heard now. They were doing everything they can, but it wasn't enough.

"Стану я тоской томиться,

Безутешно ждать;

Стану целый день молиться,

По ночам гадать;

Стану думать, что скучаешь

Ты в чужом краю...

Спи ж, пока забот не знаешь,

Баюшки-баю.

Дам тебе я на дорогу

Образок святой:

Ты его, моляся богу,

Ставь перед собой;

Да, готовясь в бой опасный,

Помни мать свою...

Спи, младенец мой прекрасный,

Баюшки-баю"

'_I will die from yearning, _

_Inconsolably waiting, _

_I'll pray the whole day long, _

_And at night I'll wonder,_

_I'll think that you're in trouble _

_Far away in a strange land. _

_Sleep now, as long as you know no sorrows, _

_Bayushki bayu._

_On the road, I'll give you _

_A small holy icon, _

_And when you pray to God, you'll _

_Put it right in front of you,_

_While preparing for the dangerous battle _

_Please remember your mother. _

_Sleep, good boy, my beautiful, _

_Bayushki bayu.'_

The moment the last note rang out the sound of the flat-lining monitor attached to her took its place, followed by a keening and desperate wail of a newborn.

Bruce growled angrily. "Damn, her serum isn't restarting as fast as I would have thought. There is too much damage… I…"

Barnes grew frantic. No, NO! This couldn't be happening.

Tony sighed in relief. He had been so concentrated on the baby that he couldn't understand their shocked faces when he turned around to the others.

Only a few feet away the keening cry was getting louder, as if he knew what was happening. The child, awake, breathing and crying. While his lungs grew stronger and the wailing more forceful, Barnes dropped to his knees. At last he felt his wounds, the bullets that had hit him, and the blood he had lost. The world started to spin before his eyes and he couldn't hold Natasha's hand anymore. It was just as limp as his body.

All this struggle to keep his family alive… It didn't make a difference.

~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~

_I just used the first lullaby I could find and went with it. (from Mikhaïl Iourievitch Lermontov (Михаил Юрьевич Лермонтов) 1814-1841) And then, when I fit it into the lines I made I realized: Holy, it fits perfectly. I cried myself. And then, when I did the last lines (I never do them before I have all the rest done), I couldn't stop myself from crying. It hit me harder than I thought. 13 pages including the song. I never thought I'd make it this long. I mean I did my fair share of 40+ pages for one delivery in Bearing the Trickster's Heirs, but damn. It wasn't supposed to be like this, and it hurts so much. But I am also so glad and happy it turned out like this. Please review ^^ Pour your heart out._

_This is how you pronounce the song:_

_Spi mladyenets, moi prekrasný, _

_bayushki bayu, _

_tikho smotrit myesyats yasný _

_f kolýbyel tvayu._

_Stanu skazývat' ya skazki, _

_pyesenki spayu, _

_tý-zh dremli, zakrývshi glazki, _

_bayushki bayu._

_Sim uznayesh, budit vremya, _

_branoye zhityo, _

_smyelo vdyenish nogu f stremya _

_i vazmyosh ruzhyo._

_Ya sedeltse boyevoye _

_sholkom razoshyu. _

_Spi, ditya mayo radnoye, _

_bayushki bayu._

_Bogatýr tý budish s vidu _

_i kazak dushoi. _

_Pravazhat' tibya ya výdu, _

_tý makhnyosh rukoi._

_Skolko gorkikh slyoz ukradkoi _

_ya f tu notsh pralyu! _

_Spi, moi angel, tikho, sladko, _

_bayushki bayu._

_Stanu ya toskoi tomit'sya, _

_byesutyeshno zhdat', _

_stanu tselý dyen' molit'sya, _

_po notsham gadat'._

_Stanu dumat', shto skutshayesh _

_tý f tshuzhom krayu. _

_Spi-zh, paka zabot nye znayesh, _

_bayushki bayu._

_Dam tibye ya na darogu _

_obrazok svyatoi, _

_tý yevo, molyasya bogu, _

_stav pyered saboi._

_Da, gotovyas v boi apasný, _

_pomni mat' svayu. _

_Spi, mladyenets, moi prekrasný, _

_bayushki bayu_


	12. Redemption

**Bloodline**

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

_Sorry for the long wait. I thought I could get more done during the holidays but there's still the bachelor I need to do this semester._

_EDIT: This is mostly fluff and happy stuff. But I have now decided that I need a sequel in which there will be anger and a lot of things to work out._

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

**Chapter 12: Redemption**

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

Barnes awoke to the sound of a cooing infant. His son, he remembered and felt the tears starting to form beneath his eyelids, forcing their way out to his cheeks. Natasha… Oh no, she died… It had all been in vain. The baby suddenly changed his mood, starting to cry. The Winter Soldier tried to lift himself, wanting to take care of his son.

"Oh hush now. What is wrong my handsome boy?" Natasha's soft voice sounded, the rustle of fabric. Quickly the child quieted down. "Yes, that's much better. Oh my, your hand, you are so strong, such a strong man, just like your father." She kissed the top of his head while moving her finger up and down with the little palm that held it in a firm grip.

Barnes groaned as he willed his body to move. This must be a fantasy, it couldn't be true. Yet he needed to be sure, to see, what wasn't there, or what was. As he finally turned his head to the side the most beautiful image formed before him.

Natasha had the baby at her breast, her face serene and kind while she cradled the newborn in her arm. They were perfect, so wonderful. She would be a great mother, she already was.

As Natasha saw a movement beside her, she looked up from the baby and straight at him, her smile growing wider, her eyes shining with pride. "Look, your daddy has woken up." She whispered at her child while her gaze was fixed on James. She covered herself after sensing that the baby was now sated.

"You're alive?" He choked out on the verge of crying. This was actually real? It felt like it, the pain of the battle still present as his wounds healed.

She chuckled. "Yes, they got my system to restart eventually, as well as my serum. It was close, but I made it."

"She's even better than that now." Tony said leaning against the doorway before he entered. "Hydra has used the stuff you injected in her not only to make her fertile again. It finished what they couldn't do all those decades ago. Like completing a puzzle. It was required because reaching the end of the pregnancy would have taken great toll on her. And since it was in her DNA it also passed on to the child. Catching two birds with one stone for them, although they never thought she would survive. You might be able to rival Cap in strength properly now, Natasha, and as soon as the boy grows up Steve, will be outdated."

"Does that mean I can retire soon?" The man in question asked. "Hey, Bucky, glad you woke up at last."

"So it all went well?" Barnes wanted to know, wanted to be sure that all this wasn't just a dream.

Steve touched his shoulder sensing his doubts. "Yes, thank you for your help."

Tony bristled. "Yeah, well, at least you have gotten some conscience halfway through the whole thing. If Natasha and the boy had stayed at Hydra, who knows what they could have made with the army they wanted to breed." He shuddered.

The Winter Soldier's eyes grew distant for a moment as if he remembered, frowning after he put the pieces together. "Natasha isn't the only one. I mean, I only… indulged once when I got the order," and the thread of a punishment, "the babies died shortly after conception but they could…"

"No," Bruce answered the moment he entered, carrying a box with medical supplies in his hands. "For as long as Natasha is with us, they are unable to do it again. She is the only one who can carry a child like that to term. We hijacked their files. They couldn't find a solution for the miscarriages and they never will."

"Also I gave them a little parting gift. After we wiped out whatever we could find, I managed to sneak in a virus. Only few people in Hydra knew about these experiments with Natasha, you and the other women. They were keeping it a secret so we would find out too late even if we captured one of their bases. My virus deletes whatever is left of their research. It will take them decades to reach the old state again." Tony looked at the little boy with a grin. "He is one of a kind. A good one, and also one of us."

At these words Barnes felt relief, and also bitterness. He could never be one of them, could he? Did that mean they would lock him up now after he had healed sufficiently? At least he had saved his family. That was all that counted, his redemption. He only wished he could spend more time with them.

"What do you think? Avengers becoming a proper family business?" Tony joked sensing Barnes' feelings. "Don't worry. Fury has…"

"I would like to deliver news myself, Stark, thank you." The director walked into the room, hands in his coat and his face blank.

Barnes swallowed dryly while Natasha stiffened next to him, cradling her child closer.

Fury's eyes softened and a fatherly smile spread across his lips. "I made a few calls and pulled in some favors. You will have to prove yourself first of course, but right now I could convince them that you're more useful on our side, fighting, than locked up in a cell. And since the good doctor Banner here has found a way to wipe out the mind control Hydra has put on you…"

"We had some recent encounter concerning that matter and our plan seemed to work on you as well." Banner added with a smile. "After a few sessions you will be able to shield your mind from whatever Hydra can come up with. Erase trigger words and such. You would be shielded from the wiping - a free man."

"But with a lot of good things to do, to make up for all the bad actions." Fury interrupted Bruce's speech. "Like I said, first prove yourself worthy of our trust."

Barnes swallowed. That was more than he had ever imagined. A chance. Yet… Trading in Hydra for Shield? Was there really so much difference? He would just be a gun again. No, the new fist of Shield? Somehow he chuckled at that thought. "I am grateful for this chance," he said, voice hoarse. "But I also…" He looked at Natasha, her face filled with relief and hope.

"Of course, family comes first. Natasha needs to rest and both of you need to get used to being parents first of all. You will be under confinement for the next few weeks until Natasha has recovered. Minor missions then first. I'll make sure your family is well cared for." He nodded at Natasha. "And now let me have a look at that little boy there."

Barnes tensed as the director moved closer but relaxed quickly when he saw how open Natasha was behaving when he leaned over the child.

"Well, he certainly is handsome." A rare smile passed his lips. "Good work, Romanoff."

Natasha chuckled. "Thank you, Sir." She blushed and averted her eyes before her training took over, wanting to know if Nick had been sincere. Her mouth opened in disbelief as she studied his expression. Then she caught herself again quickly. "I wondered if you might want to be the godfather." She glanced at James for a second, also asking for his approval, earning a dumbfounded nod.

Fury actually grinned. "I would be honored." He lifted his hand in front of the baby's face. The little one started to squeal in delight, trying to get a hold on one of his fingers, finally succeeding. "Oh, the boy is force to be reckoned with." He felt the blood supply to his last digit being cut off and laughed. "I will give you any help you might ever need." With gentle fingers he started to tickle the child, making him coo again, before he stepped away. "Yet, I am sure you will be a great mother to him. You always adapt to whatever is required. And surely you will do a perfect job here."

Barnes swallowed, his eyes burning with tears. Oh, she would live up to the challenge and ace it.

With a wave of his hand Fury turned to leave. "Well then, I've got work to do. I'll check on you whenever I have a free minute." Before he exited Fury looked at Barnes one last time. "Don't disappoint me."

_I won't,_ Barnes mouthed before nodding his head in good-bye, earning an honest smile from Fury.

Hawkeye entered the room right after Nick left. "I never thought you would be a mother, Tasha." Clint said while he marveled at the young boy looking around curiously.

"Neither did I, but I am glad, I have him." For a moment she just looked at her newborn son, taking in whatever he gave her, the curious and wake eyes, his movements that showed he liked to be held by her. This beautiful wonder she had given birth to. Natasha couldn't imagine not having him anymore. A reason to live, to fight for the good side. To protect. And she would raise him exactly this way.

Clint turned his focus on Barnes, his grin leaving him. "I'm just glad all worked out as it did. If the Winter Soldier hadn't finally realized that it was wrong keeping you there…" He saw the pain in Barnes' eyes as he said those words, reading him and knowing that being a father would now change him too. So he let go of his grudge, finally having hope for the broken man again as well. "And luckily Stark and Banner were able to finish the anti-serum. Although…" He remembered how she had suffered. He also thought about Laura. Even if it had been different, more difficult, here, delivery was still a bitch. "I know a birth is something a mother would gladly skip when having a baby… but…"

Natasha grimaced and leaned back. "Believe me, no bullet or knife can hurt like this." The meds were now helping her a little and most of the tissue had healed already, her body getting back in shape, but the memory was still present.

"That's why women are superior," he told her, betraying the joke with his smile. "Men wouldn't be able to do that."

Natasha eyed him with furrowed brows. "Grow a womb and then we'll talk again." She scoffed and joined the others as they started to laugh.

A female voice was amongst them. Pepper stepped inside, her high shoes sounding on the floor. "Hey, new mom, I have a few presents for you. They'll help you during the first weeks." She came closer and placed a box on the bed Natasha was lying on. Knowing the young mother was still healing, she opened it herself and pulled out piece after piece. "Okay, so this is some clothing for whatever weather or occasion. I also thought about his quick growth, so I bought onesies in different sizes, shoes, soft towels, bibs. Er, diapers, yes, we have more stored, you only need to ask. I know you already have some bottles and stuff for later, but here's an extra stack." The bed was soon filled with items. "Tony came up with some toys yesterday and I made the production team create prototypes. Here are the ones for a very young baby. He made some tweaks for when the boy gets older, to challenge him," she said, looking at her lover with a smile. "I'll get them produced during the next days. And because I wasn't sure how long you would feed him, since he'll grow so fast, I have made a list of what you might need as well. Just say the word and I'll collect it for you." She looked at the starter-kit with a wide grin. "Yeah, and this one." She handed Natasha a stuffed spider with an apologizing smile. "Tony decided upon the animal and I decorated the room, so at least that should be alright."

"Room?" The Black Widow asked as she got the plushy handed to her free arm. Quickly she saw the key dangling from it.

"Yeah, sorry, it is more of a ceremonial thing. Of course Jarvis will let you in into the baby's room whenever you like, and whoever. In there is the rest of what a mother might need." A smile spread across her lips. "And it has an adjoining room next to it, for you and Barnes, as soon as you are past medical observation and only on bed-rest. We prepared a floor for you here. And whenever you need babysitting, I can make some time." She eyed the men in the room with a mock-horrified face. "I wouldn't trust them." A chuckle left her lips before she looked at Natasha again whose mouth was open in utter surprise. "Oh, no worries. I like doing it, and it will be the best choice, if you ask me. Our weird family holds together, protects each other, and we welcome the new addition." She saw everyone nod.

"Oh my god, I don't know what to say." She was crushed by all the love shown towards her.

"Don't say anything, a smile from that little boy is all I need. So, let me have a look." She leaned closer, seeing that as soon as she got in reach the baby looked at her curiously, then cooing and spreading out his tiny hands. "Oh yes, he knows I am the good aunty. A very smart little man for sure." She picked up a rattle and held it towards the baby who grabbed it eagerly.

Soon the room was filled with a delighted cooing and the sound of rattle used to the breaking point by the unusually strong hands.

After a few more talks most of them had excused themselves, tending to their business. Banner finally found some privacy to check up upon the family, grinning when he saw they were all in proper health, although still recovering. "All is perfect for the circumstances. Anything you might need?"

"I would really like to revel in a bath…" Natasha muttered, entirely exhausted.

Bruce looked to the side for a moment, thinking. "Your wounds have closed so far, even with strain nothing should be harmed since your serum has kicked in slowly but hard. I would actually say it'll only be four more days and you'll be as good as new, with only little scaring that should fade during the next weeks. You will feel tired and worn out for a while but that's totally normal." He looked at Pepper who had taken care of the baby while Banner had worked. The child was now sleeping in her arms. "Would you mind helping her?"

"Oh, not at all. I think a break from all this maleness can only do you good." She looked at Barnes. "If I might kidnap her for an hour."

The man in question looked dumbfounded again. "Of course. Whatever she desires or needs." He had still rarely said a word, only accepting all the gracious gifts given to his family, and him especially. He could have never wished for more. All this felt more like a dream in contrast to the harsh reality he had felt at Hydra where there had only been war and death. "Could you maybe ask Steve, if he has a minute? I need to make some apologies."

Pepper's smile was kind. "Of course. We'll give you old buddies time to talk. But no worries. The Captain is a very forgiving man and he can help you get on your feet again. Don't feel embarrassed to ask. He seriously likes helping, a lot. That's kind of his addiction." She chuckled before walking towards him with the baby in her arms.

Sensing her idea he shied away as much as he could. "I'm not sure if I can…"

Banner laughed at these words. "No new father thinks that way, but you can. It's a learning process. I'll stick around while the girls take their time." He folded his arms in the way a baby should be held. "Like this. It's not difficult."

Barnes forced his hands not to shiver as he got the baby handed to him. Alexei woke up during the process, his face contorting in anger, before he realized who was holding him, or so it seemed, directly going back to sleep in the safety of his father's arms. "Oh my god… He is…" It had happened so fast. This was the first moment he held his child and it felt so… right, so perfect. Barnes didn't even see his metal arm anymore, and the child didn't seem to care about all that entailed either. He gently pulled the blanket over his son's body to keep him warm as the child grabbed his cold fingers and started to suck on the tip as if it was some pacifier. Barnes was overwhelmed for a moment. Alexei didn't see him as the assassin he was, didn't see what he had done, only knew what he could give him now. And that was enough for the boy, because he fell back into a half-slumber, still sucking from time to time, but calm, content.

"I knew you could do it," Natasha said next to him. She was now standing, although heavily leaning on Pepper. "Don't mess him up during the time I'm gone, okay?"

Barnes didn't know how to answer and watched her leaving with a grin on her face. She had orchestrated this. She had known that he would have to bond properly, and this was the perfect way of doing so, in tiny, but still huge steps.

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

"You think he'll do alright?" Natasha asked, while Pepper helping her into the tub. Her training had told her to check for the injuries inflicted upon her. The Black Widow's knowing eyes had calculated them and rendered them minor. Bruce had been right. The skin had healed, her body almost back in shape. Only soreness and angry red lines on her skin from where she had been cut or hurt. A thought made her grin. She could finish a mission in two days' time without any problems, but that would ruin the time with her baby. So she would play exhausted and fragile for a few more days to have enough time alone with her family. Selfish, maybe, but for a purpose, and for the good. She had earned this. The baby would become a handful soon enough.

"Of course, and he still has Bruce on his side. Luck and knowledge combined. I think it'll do Barnes some good." After helping her in she snatched everything Natasha might need.

"I think so too, but I still fear, what if Alexei cries, or needs feeding, or a diaper change."

"Except for the feeding with mother's milk I think the boys will do it perfectly." She thought for a second. "And if you need some private time, I also have some pumps. I didn't want to unpack them in front of the boys, but…"

"He won't be a breast-feeding baby for long, so I should enjoy my time doing so. But thanks anyway." Natasha told her while she relaxed in the tub. God, this felt good.

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

Meanwhile in the other room, Barnes had gotten settled with the child rather perfectly. He still marveled at how quickly the child had grown used to him, accepting him. Well, he was his son after all.

A few minutes ago Steve had joined them, sitting beside the bed, staying quiet, just looking and grinning. A few moments later Bruce excused himself to fetch some stuff, whatever it was. The three man knew it was just some pretense to give them space, and neither of them objected. It was so calm, and peaceful, and so right.

"So, who would have thought that the charmer Barnes would actually be a father one day," Steve said after a few minutes marveling at the small boy.

He felt the need to answer honestly. "It was a mission at first. I only followed the orders given to me, but when I saw her stomach growing, there was this... connection that allowed me to keep track of my own thoughts long enough to break free from their control." He still felt this longing, this need to protect, this love he felt for something he hadn't even seen, and for the woman who could give it to him.

"What will you do now?" Steve had started playing with some of the toys the Starks had given the boy.

Barnes swallowed. "I hope I will be a good father to him. Even though his genes are extraordinary, I want to give him an unburdened childhood." He held him closer and felt the baby only snuggling closer to him, accepting, and loving.

"You already are a good father." Steve nodded as he watched him. "He will be a wonderful young man if he is anything like his parents."

"Thank you." Barnes didn't know what else to say.

"Why didn't you step in when Natasha asked Fury to be the godfather?" Steve said with mock-jealousy.

Barnes gulped, not sure of how to respond. "I… I didn't think I had that much of a say in this."

Steve laughed at his shocked expression. "Oh, don't worry. I am not jealous at all. It was just a joke. Yet… Whenever you might have a girl, I would like to be the one to try and keep her honors in place."

Now Barnes actually forgot how to breathe. "That was also a joke, right?" As if Natasha would let him… after all that had happened, after all she went through.

"She is a mother now and she loves her child. When the time is right, she won't deny you, trust me." He put a hand on Bucky's shoulder, also making the physical connection.

Barnes finally regained his composure. "Oh come on. You don't think she would really…?" He lost his voice as she saw Steve's grin. "Seriously, you have no idea about such things."

"I don't have any experience, but I am sure I got a whole lot of luck predicting these things. We don't know if Hydra's drug will last, or for how long. So, I just want you open for whatever Natasha might ask of you."

Barnes cringed, the child felt it too, but he was able to calm him down quickly enough. "After all that happened to her..." He watched the unchanging expression on Steve's face. "I will be open for whatever she wants, but I will not force anything."

**~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~**

_Oh my god, I have such fluffy feels for this. Sorry if I overdid it, but damn, I needed that. Between my bachelor and seriously weird life, I need this. This perfection._

_If you want, I will continue this story with even more fluffy moments, and also the kids amazing abilities (I might need some input from you here)._

_Of course they should have more babies, with much less trouble of course. And all of them would just be amazing, astonishing junior Avengers, be it hacking skills on computers, or hacking some bodies apart._

_Tell me, if you want that, and I'll make you you get it ^^_

_(And Steve still need the Barnes' baby girl he takes of ^^)_

_Please review ^^_

EDITED: I have already around 30 pages for the sequel, so stay posted ^^ In that Bucky will have to work on his past and everything he did to Natasha since they first met in the Red Room.


	13. Stark's idea of a nursery

**Bloodline**

**Chapter 13: Stark's idea of a nursery**

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_You've asked for a sequel and you'll get one. I'll not only give Steve the chance to be the girl's protector, but also fill the holes I have left for Bucky and how he gets back on his feet which will be a hard and painful progress. And I'm gonna settle this whole thing about Black Widow and him and what he did to her leaving its traces. Yet, I am still sure that Natasha would not be in rage about how he handled and used her, not entirely. Going by her history, she would be cautious, but still holding out an arm not to hit but to keep him steady._

_And of course a lot of sweet baby moments and funny things as soon as the boy grows, and he will be amazing, yet will scare his parents as soon as Hydra finally gets their hands on him again._

_Thanks, Dectie for correcting my Russian._

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During the next four days, James had stayed mostly silent. He enjoyed watching Natalia with their son, he didn't want to miss any moment. She had completely managed the change into a mother, but it wasn't only that. It was not rewriting her character. She was still the Black Widow, still strong and deadly and magnificent. Becoming a mother was an addition to her personality and she integrated the pieces into the puzzle of her life rather extraordinarily. It made her even more desirable.

Barnes tried to swallow as he realized how much he still wanted her. Of course, nothing had changed in that matter. The longer he was around her, the more he found that he never wanted to let her go... But would she still want him? Or was she just kind towards him because he was the father of her child or because she owed him her life in the end, although he was the reason she had almost lost it in the first place? And an even more pressing thought was: Could he be the right man for her? With all he had put her through, why would she still trust him?

Since the moment he had woken up, he still thought all this was just a dream. It was so surreal. She was so kind towards a soul that was so battered and bruised.

Natasha was standing at the window seemingly showing her child the world outside the Tower, quietly talking to him, but there was more. She could see his reflection in the glass and the emotions that played over his face. Reading him was never really easy, but it was clear when he thought she wasn't watching and now seemed to be a good time to pull him out of his brooding. "You should stop frowning or the wrinkles between your eyebrows will be permanent." She joked and turned around.

James almost jumped at her words. Damn, she was… perfect. He breathed in deeply before pushing himself off of the sheets. "So you noticed," he chuckled and rubbed his face.

"You trained me, of course I did." She moved over to him slowly, sitting down next to him on the bed.

James watched her steps carefully, trying to suppress the urge to shy away. He already felt as if he tainted her by only being in the building. Judging by how easily her body moved she was fully healed by now, able to leave these rooms. She stayed because of him, because he was still wounded and healing more slowly than her.

"Bruce told me this morning that when you feel strong enough, we can move to our quarters." She held the child closer as the baby started to cry. "Oh, my little one. That's nothing to be afraid of, Alexei. You will love your new rooms for sure, hm. Hush, my dear."

James felt the need to aid her, but he didn't know how, furthermore he was sure that his distress was somehow affecting the baby.

Natasha almost wanted to laugh. The Winter Soldier was so clueless when it came to this tiny baby here. She knew exactly what was causing the boy to demand attention. "Could you hold him for a moment, please? I'm gonna prepare his bottle." She stretched out her arms to hand him over.

Barnes was too surprised to deny and suddenly the boy was in his arms. Finally he regained control over his tongue. "Isn't it... ? Don't you normally… feed him yourself?"

Natasha laughed as she heated up the water to mix it with the formula. "Oh, I would, but right now," she pointed at her chest, "the bar is almost empty. The more he grows the more he needs and I can't keep up with his cravings all the time. I'm sure he wouldn't mind his daddy feeding him this once."

Barnes cringed visibly and felt the boy doing almost the same. He started to cry even louder, sensing his father's fear. "I'm not sure if I can…"

Natasha almost included a reference to his time before Hydra, but stopped herself. "You did it before, and perfectly well. Don't be ridiculous and make yourself smaller than you are." She filled the bottle and checked the temperature, nodding before she came back to him.

"But don't you…?" He knew he was being stupid.

Natasha laughed again and shook her head. "Just try to think of it as a mission. Nutrition is needed and now you have to deliver that effectively. Meaning…" She gave him the bottle and guided his hand. "The boy needs to stop fussing and start eating. Position the nipple at the right angle, don't force anything. Let him recognize it as food source first. When he understands, only help him reach it easier. He will show you himself."

While Natasha gave him these instructions he realized two things. Firstly, he now grasped the concept of parenthood like Natasha did, a very important personal mission, and the significance of reaching the goals. And secondly, being a father wasn't all that difficult, and it gave him happiness. The warm feeling of it, that whatever he could give his son was enough for the boy. That only trying was enough and that the child would take him the last steps, slowly but surely.

"I think you are ready to take even one more step."

James looked up at her. He hadn't even realized how much time had passed. The bottle was almost empty and the boy was now slowly nodding off. "What do you mean…?"

She set the little box of toys on the bed. Alexei's favorite ones. "You will enjoy getting out of that bed and have a nice, hot shower. Pass him over. He's gonna get fussy again when I can't burp him before he falls asleep."

James handed the child over and took a moment to reassemble his thoughts. "Don't they want some guards to… accompany us?"

"Oh no, that won't be necessary. You won't make a run for it," she told him, chuckling and with so much certainty in her voice that even he now believed it.

Why would he want to run away anyway? Everything he wanted was right here. This was more than only gaining trust. This was about becoming part of the whole family of Avengers.

"Can you take the box? Stark has provided clothes and whatever else we might need in our rooms." The child had now nodded off on her shoulder with his thumb in his mouth. "Let's move."

Her last words were an order and he followed instinctively. His muscles still ached but the wounds had closed so far. James lifted his legs over the edge slowly and testing his own strength before he pushed himself upright. He had fought with injuries much worse than these, so a little walk wouldn't be too difficult and actually… He longed to be out of here. It reminded him too much about all the missions that had taken their toll on him, missions he hated doing.

As soon as they passed the door Natasha fell back so she was walking alongside with him instead of in front of. The people they passed, scientists, doctors, looked at them curiously but with no fear or bad emotions, merely surprise or a friendly nod.

Something occurred to him as they walked. Natasha was not leading them. This meant much more than only she showing him the way. She saw him as equal and it felt so right to walk with her, as a family. He registered the tears when he felt the liquid on his cheeks. He wanted to hide them, to brush them off, so that no one would see. But the elevator had already reached their floor. The hallway was empty.

"I hope those are tears of joy," she remarked, reading him again.

How did she always do that? Was he so easy to figure out now? Well, the last few days he had soaked in whatever happened and needed a lot of his thoughts to analyze the circumstances and how he, or a normal person, would react. He was trying, trying so hard that he didn't have the ability to keep up the mask anymore.

"I know how that feels like. It takes some time, but you'll get used to it. Right now everything still overwhelms you, but don't worry. You'll get the hang of it and gain control over the muscles of your face again," she said jokingly. James looked at her, she was teasing but he knew the meaning underneath the words.

She was so beautiful. Those long lashes and the glowing orbs beneath them with so much power, so much love and mischief. Natalia enjoyed putting him through all of this. For a second he felt like a small puppy being dragged around against his will, but that was not true. She was helping him back on his feet and the trust she showed towards him made him take the bigger steps, the ones he didn't know how to walk. Before he had recovered from the surprise the Winter Soldier had made a couple of miles along the road, guided by her hand. "You're remarkable."

She grinned at him and looked to the side, nodding. "I know."

There it was! A short moment of doubt, overplayed by the confidence she showed to the outside. It was almost funny. They were so similar. Putting all their trust into one another but not able to trust themselves enough. He wanted to kiss her, to show her how amazing she really was and erasing the doubt, but he couldn't. A sharp pain in his chest that had nothing to do with his wounds made his own smile falter.

"Come on. You shouldn't be on your feet too long." She turned towards the door. "Jarvis, would you mind?"

"Of course, Miss Romanoff, Mister Barnes. It is good to see you up again."

Both of them did not to answer when the door opened, they just couldn't.

"Damn you, Stark," Natasha chuckled as she walked inside. Extravagance didn't even start to describe it. Best and most expensive materials in a sleek design with every tech someone could dream of. This room wasn't as hard as the lounge in the top of the tower. Here the glass and metal was mixed with veneers of rare hardwood, giving the whole space a little bit of warmth. Her new mission, motherhood, lead her to check for anything that might come to harm her child, but Pepper seemed to have thought of that. The sharp edges had little objects attached to them, making them rounder and softer, yet still not entirely breaking the design. As if everything was only created to serve on this specific desk or cabinet. The room itself was already large. Combining front and living room into one zone with closets hidden inside the wall and only visible because of the dark lines the joint gaps painted. Panels everywhere to controls lights and whatever else. Tables for various things, a L-shaped desk which she already saw in Stark's lab. It was actually a computer with all tech anyone could only dream of, movable glass screens, ports for every possible devices to connect with, all perfectly combined and hidden beneath the hardwood. Closer to the room-high windows there was a lounge area with comfortable seats and a sofa around another glass table, also child-proof. The occupants could either face the windows and look outside or at the room itself and the wall with a big screen that showed a video of what occurred inside the nursery.

Natasha laughed at that. Well, that certainly was a baby monitor. She was eager to explore this room specifically. As she walked she heard James moving along with her, soaking in the surroundings as well.

A glimpse into the nursery showed her that Pepper had at least taken over the reigns here. The room was much more colorful and kind, childish and simply perfect. Aside from all the practical stuff such as bed, changing table and a rocking chair, there was also interesting tech that could assist a new-parent. The walls were painted in three different colours with scenes drawn on them. Two were of mystical or Disney tales, the third made her grin in amusement. It was a picture of all the Avengers, of course rated down to fit the child's age, but it was impressive nonetheless. The last wall seemed to be a screen of some sort. In one corner there were words written. "Welcome home." Natasha read out loud as she walked towards it, curious.

James had now put the box onto one of the tables filled with stuffed animals and toys. He saw the panel beside the big screen checking the options on it. There was a simple program running on it. Save and Load options as well as one folder. Then he saw that there was a second panel beneath the one he was looking at, as if it fit for a young child. Natasha giggled beside him, so he turned.

"Yes, that's how you do it." She held the baby in both arms in front of her, as he pounded against the surface, making colors and shapes appear. The child squealed in delight. "Oh, you want to be an artist? Very pretty paintings, my boy."

Curious James touched the surface with one finger. A white dot appeared. He moved finger around, drawing a circle. Then he added another finger and the color changed. With fascination he tried out different movements and soon the space before him was a wild explosion of colors.

"That is so Stark." Natasha shook her head and laughed. She could feel that the boy, despite his excitement, was way too tired to stay awake any longer. "Okay, my little boy. We're gonna draw again later, but now somebody needs a nap." She looked at James. "And you might want to check out the bathroom to get the hot shower I promised. I'll take care of Alexei."

"I…" He wanted to help, but didn't know how.

"Just go," she said smiling. "I'm gonna fetch you some clothes from the closet."

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Barnes stood in front of the bathroom mirror and smiled at his own reflection. Bruce had assured him that they had made good progress figuring out of how to release him of the mind control entirely. The Winter Soldier felt relieved by that. In his more sane moments, right before he had gotten wiped again, he had to fight against this on his own, not knowing what to do exactly. His 'job' had always given him some sense of oversight and calmness, necessary during mission to keep the mind focused, so the yoga lessons the doctor mentioned weren't that new to him. Yet combined with medication and therapy they would at last become the mixture that could free his inner self from the cobwebs Hydra had trapped him in.

So could he become Barnes again? The young man who likes to flirt with the girls and protects his friend? Deep inside he knew that man wasn't the same anymore, had seen too much through the Winter Soldier's actions. Bucky knew that the shrink sessions would demand from him to also go over what had happened, to regain his memory, but he didn't want to know about it. As stubborn as it sounded. That was the one thing Hydra had done right. They had made him forget… Because living with this could break a lesser man.

The soldier straightened himself again. Yes, it could, but _not_ him. With steady hands he prepared the tools to shave, all calm and composed he pulled the blade over his skin. Bucky smiled at the tool he was using. Stark had given him everything he might need and he had thought about it a lot. This was not a disposable piece of plastic or a dry shaver. The familiar weight of the straight razor lay in his hand comfortably and almost moved on its own. There were some things that would never change.

When he was done cleaning his face from the rest of the foam, he glimpsed at himself again. Much better, tidier. The wildness was still there but it was not yet tamed.

With unsure fingers he touched his long hair. Hydra never bothered with that and he had gotten used to it. The messy locks had become a trademark of the Winter Soldier. Should he…?

"О, не смей. [Oh, don't you dare.]" Natasha said, leaning against the door frame.

Bucky almost jumped at the sound of her voice. Her sneaking skills had definitely gotten better since they last trained together. He returned her smile in the mirror but his eyes darkened an instant later. He couldn't quite read her. The Black Widow's mask could fool anyone. Natasha had the right to stab him in the back for what he had done to her, even though under control.

Natasha walked closer, her steps casual and her face kind. She made sure he see could every single one of her movements in the mirror before gently touching his hair, still damp from the shower. "Мне они нравятся такими, как есть. [I like it the way it is.]"

Anyone else would have thought this conversation was merely about styling, but it wasn't. She was asking him to… to what? Stay the Winter Soldier? That sounded absurd. "Natalia, I…"

"Hush, I know..." When the Black Widow was sure he had realized she wasn't about to hurt him, she moved closer, gently whispering in his ear. "Our child will need Barnes just as much as the Winter Soldier. Right now you are becoming something new and it's up to you what aspects of your life will become a part of that. I made this decision myself a long time ago."

He swallowed, not sure of how to react to the warmth of her body so close to him. Her intentions weren't of a sexual nature, her skill set was more precise than that. She was showing him kindness, offering help and giving him the prospect of a way she had walked without getting lost on the road. "I don't want to…"

"... taint him?" She offered him the words that wouldn't come to his mind.

"Yes," he answered hoarsely.

"How do you think I feel?" She asked him, her head held high, but her eyes telling a totally different language. She dropped her mask for one moment, showing him her doubt, her uncertainty, her fear of doing something wrong.

"But you are just… perfect…" He couldn't describe it any other way.

"I try to give my best." She chuckled and turned to leave the bathroom but looked back one last time. "And so do you."

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Steve's eyebrows raised when he entered the room Bucky and his family had resided in the past few days. He wanted to pay a short visit before his talk with Fury when he suddenly found the room empty. A smile passed his lips as he realized what this meant.

A few minutes later he had arrived for his appointment with Fury.

"You know what I want to talk about, don't you?" The director asked without even greeting him. Not kind, but efficient.

"Yes, sir."

Fury inhaled slowly before straightening himself. "Then what is your opinion after all that happened the last week?"

He didn't want to say too much, but… "Thank you, for giving Bucky a chance." The Captain stated after a few seconds of silence. Yes, he deserved this. There was still so much good in him, he merely needed to recover beneath all the debris of lies and pain.

"Let's just hope he's worth the trouble." Fury sighed.

Now was the time to stand up for his friend. "He is not only a good fighter. I am certain that Hydra could not erase what he actually is. I still see it inside of him. He is a valuable asset." He added although he didn't like these words.

"No need to advertise him. I know what he can do. He only needs the right reasons. And I think Romanoff has given him these." Fury pinched his nose. "Aside from maybe Natasha herself Barnes trusts you the most, given how long he known you. I need you to stay on top of everything, alright? And report it to me."

"Sir." He wanted to protest. No, that would mean betraying him.

"That's not what I am asking for. I know it is morally impossible for you to spy, but Romanoff is compromised because he is the father of her child. I merely want to know if he could become a threat again. It is not my intention to harm him. We can get him straight with enough time. During that period, I need someone close enough as an early warning system. You don't need to give a detailed, written report. Just tell me as soon as you have concerns." He looked at him with one eye. "Can you do that?"

"Sir,... I…" This was spying on Bucky in other words, betraying him. He just couldn't do that.

"We need to be prepared. That doesn't mean we will lock him up directly. Desperate measures only when needed. Right now my main concern is that Romanoff and the child are safe. And I am sure your morals won't allow any harm to them either. That's all I am asking. 'Tasha can manage Barnes on her own, but since she is compromised, she might not be able to see the difference. You act as a fail safe." He looked at the confused face of Steve. "Romanoff can handle it, right?" It was not a question, not entirely. There was so much certainty in his one eye that Rogers needed to suppress the urge to chuckle.

"Yes, sir." He had always thought that Bucky only needed him to get straight again, to free himself. But the friendship of two boys didn't seem to be enough. Steve was glad for the help, but it still felt weird to put the fate of his best friend into the hands of someone as cunning as Black Widow. But damn, Bucky now had a family. And his past as a young man untouched by Hydra indicated that he would turn out an excellent father. He protected the weak ones. He was kind, caring, with that lovely charming attitude that could make every woman's heart stop. Then… He remembered the reports Natasha had given on him. Could the Winter Soldier actually become a father? But Bucky was not only these two sides. He was so much more. A kind soul, a hero who fought for the sight side, with the skill set and abilities given to him by the darkness.

For a short moment he pitied whoever got close to Bucky's offspring and grinned at the thought.

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_Thank you Autumn_Froste for beta and help._

_I'm sorry if the Russian was incorrect. Google did its best. If anyone can tell me how it would actually be translated, tell me or write it in a review. I'll change it then ^^ Thanks already. (And I may need more help there in the future as well)_

_So you see we are going to work on some issues that I will weave into a therapy with Bruce where Bucky will get glimpses from his past until he remembers the full extent of what Natasha and he had done during the time he trained her in the Red Room. The topic of what he had done to her overall is still a problem. Bucky is showing that conflict more than Natasha. She can overcome the mistakes, the pain, because she is different now. But he still has to make that transformation. He needs to learn about this 'other side'. The good guys. And of course, as soon as both are ready they will have the little girl Steve needs to protect (from the parenting of Bucky)._

_But it will get worse before it gets better as soon as we open Pandora's box of the 'WinterWidow' past._

_Please review ^^_


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